Sonny Flies!

After taking advice and another visit to the Vet, Sonny was prescribed anti inflamatory metacam for his swollen arthritic joint. It appears that he might have to live with a bad leg for the rest of his days. He has been reluctant to fly because of the pain in the foot joint when moving or landing . The idea of the metacam is to remove / or reduce the pain element long enough for him to learn to fly and cope with the arthritic leg! Thinking a few days of recuperation and he could return to the wild now seems a long way off, looks like I will have to treat him for some weeks the way the Vet was talking. He is on 2 doses of antibiotics a day and 1 of metacam.

The good thing is that the metacam seems to be working, this morning he decided to stretch his wings and flew out of the garden across the road and round behind a neighbours house. So we know he can fly! He is eating well and preening himself and looks in pretty good nick. I have rigged up a small bath for him in the garden so I dont have to stress him by catching him and taking him indoors for a bath. He also pecked me twice yesterday drawing blood, so he is acting like a wild bird in that sense !

I hope he sticks around long enough to treat the arthritic joint and give him a chance of survival in the wild.

Meanwhile the Swans are exactly 4 months old today and looking good too. Visitors are still amazed at seeing so many cygnets in the one family, and they are still the most photogenic thing in the river. The river has changed dramatically after the flood, with thousands of tons of shingle having moved all the way throughout the river.

The Swans are constantly searching for food from any source, and the cob has taken to eating the bladder type seaweed hanging from the harbour walls. I saw them about 50 metres from the end of the pier picking at the meagre amount of washed up weed .

I witnessed one of the finest sunsets this year on friday night, it was spectacular !