Saga of the Swans

 

Pa Swan.

Mute swans are amazing birds. They are the biggest British birds and one of the biggest flying birds world-wide. They are so heavy that to take-off they need a watery run-way to fast paddle along-  speeding along with wings outstretched like some sort of avian boat-plane.  

They are mute in flight - not calling out like other swan species - but their wings make a characteristic noise as they sweep up and down and, when on the ground, they also vocalise, including the insistent fluting whistle of the youngsters asking for food and the warning honks, grumbles and hisses of protective parents. 

Last year the boating people of the Somerset Coal Canal were caught up in something of a swan saga when a swan couple decided to nest within the marina. The couple (and mute swans mate for life) chose an area off the main public walkways but close to the bustling point where the old and narrow coal canal meets the far larger Kennet and Avon canal. 

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Three of their eggs hatched and, in the weeks that followed, it became apparent that in a busy waterway on the edge of a city it really 'takes a village' to help raise three hungry accident-prone fledglings. This included simple things like guiding people around them if they were blocking the path, intervening when yobs were threatening to hurt them and providing quite a lot of food!

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Here are some images from their story in 2022 - from egg to fledgling:

Ma turning the eggs whilst Pa stands guard.

All the incubating was down to Ma.

Freshly hatched.

An early outing.

The cygnets rapidly put on weight and are soon swimming up an down the canal in a family group. They often swim with one leg cocked over their backs. I suspect this may be to help them cool off.

Many weeks later, as Autumn approaches, the three siblings are almost the size of their parents and grey fluff has given way to grey feathers with some white now starting to show through.

Tending their feathers

In the late Autumn two of the cygnets fledged and left home. One - probably the daughter - stayed with her parents until the New Year and then she too left. The parents continue to patrol the same area. 

Now a family of three. Queuing for a handout at the local cafe.

Mother and daughter take a nap together - Pa is never far away. One of the last sightings of them together. 

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Then there were two.

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A solitary swan - on the edge of the local floods in January 2023.

Is this one of the cygnets now all grown up?