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Today I found out from one of our Trust members what killed the duckling last Sunday.
The Trust member was walking her own dog about 4 pm Sunday when she saw an out of control young Labrador chasing the ducks along the riverbank at the Swans island. The dog then ran halfway up the island towards Penny sitting on the nest, Duke was quick to react and attacked the dog warding it off. The dog then chased all the ducks and ducklings along the bank, catching and killing the defenceless duckling. There was mayhem and all the ducks were scattering all over the place.
Our Trust member followed the woman owner of the dog and asked why she allowed the dog to run free attacking the wildlife. The owner said she was unaware of the wildlife and said there were no signs indicating the presence of wildlife ! She also said she was only up for the weekend from Glasgow and staying at the caravan site. The dog at this point was now on a lead and almost pulling the owner over. Incredibly the owner said the Swan might have injured her dog !!!
I have asked many times for the council to get a few signs put up around the lower river warning dog owners of the river wildlife. Once again, I have written to our new Regional councillor Tom Heggie, asking for action on this matter.
After a long gruelling incubation period, it looks like Penny and Duke have been unable to hatch any cygnets.
This is incredibly sad after all the trials and tribulations of the past year. We had the death of Popeye last September after a long and productive life, fathering over 62 cygnets during the past nine seasons. Then we had the good fortune for Penny to get Duke, a new mate who had been around the bay for some weeks before Popeye died. It seemed like a match made in heaven and a continuation of Penny's highly productive life.
They bonded well, but Duke was sick last November and we had him sent for medical treatment, after he was returned he was fine for a few weeks but then took ill again. During this time another pair of swans moved in and ousted Penny. Duke was again treated successfully and returned to rejoin Penny and battle the young pair that tried to take over the territory. The mating season seemed normal, apart from the occasional skirmish with the young pair all went well.
However it is now 5 days beyond the usual incubation period and reluctantly I have to accept that for some reason yet to be established - the eggs have not hatched.
I am sure that hundreds of local people will be disappointed not to see our river cygnets this year.
I am particularly vexed for Penny, since she is still sitting - determined to hatch the unhatchable !
Was feeling confident that our month old ducklings in the river were getting big enough to survive the Crows, Heron, and Gulls. However I forgot about the irresponsible dog owners, one of their dogs killed a duckling yesterday, obviously grabbed, punctured, and shaken to death just behind the Seaman's hall. How many times do I have to remind dog owners to keep their dogs under close control at this time of year ? This area in particular has ground nesting birds, and young that cannot escape a dog attack.
With the hottest weather of the year, even the ducks are enjoying the holiday weekend.
The Runt, her ducklings and the 8 orphan ducklings are all chilling out by the pool.
They have to take it in turns since the Runt attacks the orphans near her little ones.
Seems like Penny and Duke have fooled me this year since I expected a cygnet hatch today. It could still happen before the day is out - or she could have laid more eggs than I anticipated . Duke of course is an unknown quantity, and worse case scenario is that he is infertile !
Penny has always taken 36 days to start hatching after her final egg has been laid. This has been an unusual year due to Duke being a new partner and he was ill twice, shortly before mating time. He also may have come from a swan line that takes another day or two longer to incubate, we should know very soon what the position is.
Meanwhile this has been the hottest day this year, after the rain earlier this week the plant life is rocketing . The orphan ducklings are doing likewise !
My Riverpark Runt has hatched two ducklings.
She laid several eggs around the garden but the gulls got most of them to start with.
Only when I stuck a nest box under the bushes did she lay them all in the same place. Four did not hatch and appear to have died in shell, but she does have 2 for a first time Mum.
The big worry now will be avoiding losing them to the gulls and Jackdaws that plague my garden !
Cygnet hatching draws closer, and Duke is on standby ready for the big event.
Within days we will all know if he has been virile with Penny, and how many offspring they have produced. Considering he was pretty sick a couple of times just before mating time, I will be happy if they even have a few cygnets.
The lower river ducklings - currently 14 continue to survive and grow. Weather has been very kind this spring and the warm moist conditions now favour an explosion of plant and insect life, ideal for duckling growth.
As always ducklings have a hard time surviving, there is always something trying to eat them. One of our river brood was down to only one duckling yesterday, and I knew it's chances were slim. My fears were justified when It was gone this morning, it's a hard life being a duckling.
However hope springs eternal and we still have 15 duckling survivors in the river plus 8 in the Trust rescue aviary.
In addition the duck with the dislocated wing has made a nest and laid some eggs in it.
I have no idea whether they are fertilised, or she is just going through the natural egg laying time of year, time will tell. It's great to see her having a happy normal life even with the handicap of being unable to fly.
After many weeks on the nest, and warm weather conditions, Penny takes a welcome break.
Duke was on hand to take over and sit on the precious eggs in the final stages of incubation.
Going without food for such a long period of time means that Penny has difficulty in swallowing until she gets plenty to drink and her system working again.
She had a 15 minute break, something to eat, and a refreshing bath before returning to the nest.
The hatching is about 10 days behind this year, due to Duke's illness and fighting off the two earlier intruders.
Meanwhile on the duckling Orphan front, they are now 2 weeks old and getting bigger !
Received a couple of pics recently from Trust member, and rehab friend Elizabeth in Colorado.
The quality and beauty of these creatures should be shared. It may be the other side of the big pond, but the beauty of the natural world is Universal.
This morning I was keen to see if the last orphan duckling was still alive, and if so could I catch it ! Having used decoys in the past, I took 2 of the siblings I caught yesterday in a mesh bag to help get it close enough to catch. When I arrived at the riverside I was delighted to see the last orphan alive, tagging along with another mother of 8, although keeping it's distance. I fed them all as normal but the orphan did not come too close so I had to grab the net and circle around as they all took flight. The orphan mingled with the mother and 8 but was easy to single out - it being the largest of the group I was able to get it into the net. Job Done !
After many hours evading capture, this little duckling is now reunited with it's brothers and sisters.
Sad Scene on the River this morning when I discovered a dead duckling floating by, and a group of 8 huddled together on the shingle with no sign of their mother.
I was hoping she had been temporarily chased off by the drakes and would return later.
However 2 hours later there was still no sign of her so I decided that if she was still not around by the evening I would try and catch the brood and take them to the safety of the Trust aviary.
Sure enough the situation was the same this evening so I spent the next 3 hours being led all over the riverside before I managed to catch 7 of them, but was unable to catch the last one before dark. I will try and get the last one in the morning, if it survives the night. I was hoping to avoid any duckling rescues this season and wanted to see how many would survive without the trust intervention.
The only exception being orphaned or injured ducklings ! The mother may have been killed by an Otter while trying to protect the ducklings, this has happened before.
I am sure this was the first brood of 12 this season which was reduced to 11 and then down to 9 yesterday. They are now safely in the warm of the brooder and will be transferred to the aviary tomorrow.
At last a warmer day, and more like spring weather.
Duke also doing his job today by protecting Penny and the Nest.
A Herring gull got a little too close to the nest and Duke was not happy about it, so he clambered out of the moat and did his important job, watched closely by Penny.
Duke was capable of killing the Gull, but only did what was needed to get it away from Penny and the nest.
Pics show sequence of events.
