FOUR !

Chilly for June is an understatement, todays northerly wind was numbing as I waited for a chance to see our Cygnets. 

The Rapport I have with Sue allowed me to visit the nest site from a suitable distance of course. The northerly wind was relentless blowing straight onto the nest as she kept the cygnets under cover. Slim did the fatherly thing by standing between me and the  precious nest.

The tide was coming in and after an hour I was numb and about to give up, when Sue decided to take the cygnets for a dip. 

Finally I can confirm that we have 4 very healthy cygnets. This follows her mother Penny, the first lot she had in 2008 was also 4 cygnets.
I am delighted to see a successful first hatch for Slim and Sue, so well deserved after the interruption to their mating season by the other pair a couple of months ago.

The chances are they would have laid more eggs if not for the challenge they had during courtship. 

However, their future is bright and I have no doubt we will see much bigger broods like her mother before her.

Conditions on the river are still bad for the swans, with high water and lack of access to weed. 

Sustenance by way of the Trust provisions of feed, and even appropriate feeding for the cygnets to keep them going until the conditions improve.

Hope my viewers appreciate the short footage below of them leaving the nest, After waiting an hour the strength of the wind was numbing, which I think you can see on the clip....Enjoy !