New Cygnet Arrives

We have been away for the weekend and the eggs have started to hatch. My good friend Mags Scott has provided these wonderful first pictures of the first egg to hatch. 

The Time to Hatch Draws Near

The time for the swans' eggs to hatch must surely be getting close. After so many trials and tribulations it will come as a relief to Mum and Dad to finally see all their hard work come to fruition. Swan followers will also be able breathe easily!

The question now is how many eggs will hatch from the five that have been laid?

5 eggs nearing the time to hatch. How many cygnets?

Mama swan stretches her wings carefully avoiding stepping on the precious eggs

Famous Five

My dear friend Mags took this photo which shows that there are now 5 eggs on the nest. Mother swan is brooding them most of the day.

Feathering One's Nest

 From today's pictures it is easy to see where we get the expression "to feather one's nest". Mother swan has been plucking feathers from her breast to soften her lovely new and secure nest. 

It has been a lovely warm and sunny Bank Holiday Monday and she has been on the nest for most of the day just standing occasionally to tend the nest. The wonderful news is that there are three eggs.

The Moorhen has a nest on the raft next door.

Feathering One's Nest

Lots of feathers that have been plucked from her breast to make the nest softer.

Lovely Neighbours

Well its been a little while since my last blog. It has not been a very happy time since for Mother swan. She has made several futile attempts to make a nest and has laid a couple more eggs which have been lost.

Earlier in the week she laid another egg and we thought it was going to be a case of history repeating itself as the raft kept moving and seemed unstable.

Today (May 4th) a friend of mine told me that she saw 3 men this morning securing the raft to the dockside making it more stable. Hopefully this means better safety for any eggs. The large amount of new nesting material, including soft grass clippings, also seems to have been provided by these kind benefactors.

It is lovely to see that "our" local swans are so obviously loved by a great many of the local people. Apparently this pair have lived on the dock for over 15 years. They have obviously brought a lot of joy to people over the years. It is lovely to see that people are taking the time and making the effort for local wildlife .

Mother swan returns to the nest in late April. An egg can be seen to the left of her head.

Close up of the egg. Note that the nesting material is mostly reeds.

Daddy swan in protective mode. Note the classic attack shape he has formed with his wings.

Saturday 4th May. Note how the raft has been attached by ropes to the dockside and the addition of lots of soft nesting material.

Dad looking handsome in the sunshine.

Mum tending the nest and there are two eggs. The whole nest sit is looking far more secure.

Two eggs!

Strange Behaviour

There have been some strange goings on with our local swans this year. A couple of weeks ago they set up a nest on a floating metal raft normally used for plants on the dock. Mama swan tore the leaves form a nearby plant and made a nest. She laid two eggs. Then the site appeared to be sinking and the nest was abandoned and both eggs disappeared.

She then set up home on a floating dinghy (see earlier blogs from this year). All seemed fine. Yesterday morning Mags Scott reported seeing 3 eggs on the dinghy. Hopes were high. By yesterday evening, when Des came home, he saw them back at the original nest site. Mama was building her 3rd nest of the season.

This morning I have been to look and indeed a nest has been built and a new egg has been laid. Both swans are nearby so this now appears to be THE nest. Checking out the dinghy on my way home I could see no sign of the 3 eggs that were there only yesterday morning.

Something is, obviously, not right. What is causing this behaviour?

Egg on the original nest site

Daddy swan in close attendance

Mama swan resting

Abandoned dinghy. No eggs in sight.

2 eggs are better than 1.

Two Eggs

Mama Swan attends the eggs

 We now have two eggs on the local swan's nest. These photos were taken by earlybird Mags Scott braving the early morning cold on her way to work.

A New Day, A New Egg

Look closely and you can see an egg beneath Mama swan

Egg can be seen clearly

Dad looks on whilst Mama settles down

I am pleased to report that Mama swan has laid another egg after having destroyed one two days ago. The egg was clearly visible this morning when Des went to work and I took these pictures a short time afterwards.

Later in the day, our dear friend Mags, took some pictures that showed that the egg had been somewhat covered by the rope fibres that are being used as nesting material. This was obviously to protect it, both from damage, and the cold.

Contentment Returns

After the trauma of yesterday when we saw Mama Swan destroy her egg it looks as if a bit of normality has returned for the swans.

This morning the owner of the dinghy and the barge to which it is attached very kindly shredded some more rope for nest material. My spy tells me that Mama Swan could hardly wait to get back on the nest!

On my visit this afternoon she was enjoying a snooze in the sunshine. She was soon joined by the male who then promptly decided to have forty winks as well.

We now need to find out whether another egg has been laid..............

Bad Egg?

Yesterday the local swans were at a totally different nesting site. There was an egg but unfortunately the site was beginning to sink.

Today we saw they were back on a dinghy they had successfully used a couple of years ago. (See earlier blog).

There was an egg. Had the egg been moved from the other location or was this a completely new egg?

The hen swan appeared content and seemed to be settling down on the nest. Five minutes later she stands up, stretches her neck and makes a noise. The next thing we saw was her attacking the egg with her beak and breaking it. She then unceremoniously removed the shell and tossed it into the water and then started to clear away the yolk and clean the surrounding area.

It was an unbelievable and somewhat distressing sight. Did she know that there was something wrong with this egg and that is why she destroyed it? Nature moves in mysterious ways and we shall see waht happens over the next couple of days and weeks.