Saturday 22 October 2016

Origin of Duke



Having done some research and detective work about the appearance of Duke. My first guess that he has come from Brodie, appears to be correct. Having spoken to a couple who were regular visitors to Brodie they confirmed that there was a lone swan there for quite some time.


This Swan disappeared about 5 or 6 weeks ago, which coincides with the appearance of a lone swan in the bay off the end of Nairn Pier.


This Swan came into contact with our resident family when they had trips offshore, and was promptly chased off by Popeye.  Since Popeye's demise this left the door open for this lone swan and Penny obviously knew this. It seems the lone swan must have lost his mate and as luck would have it , Penny suddenly became eligible ...a very happy coincidence for a widow and widower !!  I am told the Brodie swans only ever seemed to produce 2 or 3 cygnets compared to Penny with an average of 7. There could be a simple explanation for this, there are more predators at Brodie, like foxes and badgers, and the nest site there is more vulnerable too. On the other hand Duke could be a lot older than I think, and perhaps not a great performer, we will know as spring approaches !

No comments: