RECORDS show December 2015 was the mildest and wettest month since 1910 leaving us and wildlife confused as to what season it actually is.

Beginning of January was the same, with reports of hedgehogs out and about, not yet in hibernation and butterflies still on the wing, but it IS winter and a lovely season to enjoy the wildlife, especially the birds in your garden and in Glasgow's parks, ponds and lochs.

Many birds migrate to the UK from their homes as its 'warmer' here so we can expect to see Whooper Swans and Golden Eye ducks which normally live in Iceland and Scandinavia swimming happily among our Mallard Ducks and Mute Swans on Hogganfield Loch.

Hogganfield Loch is an excellent urban wildlife hotspot for families, photographers and birdwatchers as they can get up close and personal with the normally shy and retiring water birds.

Encouraging the birds is easy, take a bag of bread with you and within minutes you will have them all at the water edge.

However, this old tradition of bread feeding is causing illness and poor condition in the Mute Swans called 'Pink Feather'.

Two swans from Hogganfield Loch are being treated at Hessilhead Animal Rescue Centre right now, for pink feather, and it’s a common illness for our swans at Hogganfield Loch. But why?

What is pink feather?

Studies over a six year period has shown a suggested link between stale, mouldy white bread and swan's feathers.

It has been known for a long time that white bread and refined grains in general aren’t particularly nutritious and respected health professionals now claim that refined bread is potentially harmful to humans so it’s not surprising to learn it’s also harmful to other animals and birds.

Swans continually preen themselves which keeps the feathers in shape and waterproofed.

However, the fungus on the bread finds its way onto the swan's body by the beak passing the fungus on to the feathers.

The environment, such as the nutrient rich pond the swan lives in, appears to allow the fungus to thrive causing the pink colour on their body, brittle feathers and importantly reducing their waterproof coating, just like an oil spill.

This allows the feathers to get waterlogged causing hypothermia, loss of weight and sometimes death. Hessilhead wildlife hospital is treating our swans with a simple soapy bubble bath to remove the residue of fungus and allow the birds to moult their feathers gradually.

Once a new set of feathers are in (which can take a while) the swans will be returned to Hogganfield Loch.

To many visitors to the Loch asking them to stop feeding birds is doom and gloom and met with resistance and often anger but the solution is simple, feed only yeast free brown bread, grains or cooked cabbage which will be much to the swans delight and benefit.

Please contact the Countryside Ranger Service for advice or to report a pink swan at Tollcross on 0141 276 0931 or Pollok Country Park 0141 276 0924.