SWANS TRAGEDY to TRIUPH

About a week before Sue hatched her cygnets, I received an email from a lady called Claire Alexandre down in Lancashire. She had been told about the Nairn swans island and this website by a Trust member living in the Manchester area. Claire told me a heartbreaking story which had been on the local TV, Radio, and newspapers. The story relates to a pair of Swans that had nested on the bank of a local lake for the first time and laid 6 eggs. 

Local people were delighted and watched eagerly for weeks waiting on the big day. About a day or so before hatching, 3 youths scared the birds from the nest and cruelly threw a large concrete slab on top of the nest !!

They killed all 6 baby cygnets that were fully formed with down and ready for hatching, it was a despicable, vicious  act and enraged the whole community who were heartbroken. The Female Swan was also heartbroken and franticly swam beside the nest and crushed eggs!
The Police and RSPCA are hunting the youths, and Claire set up a funding page on the internet - justice for Swans. Having heard about The River Nairn swans island, Claire wanted to raise funds to see if they could build an island for their distraught swans, hence the email to me.
I was pretty enraged hearing the story, and only too glad to be of assistance. 

I asked Claire to send me some photos of the lake and surrounding banks etc. Within a week of setting up her funding page, Claire had raised over £3000, from a sympathetic public.

Having looked at the photos Claire sent, it was clear to me with a path all round the lakeside the swans nesting at the edge was just not viable, with fishing allowed, people, and dogs constantly passing by. Building an Island in the middle of the lake sounded ideal. Having done some research on floating islands, this I suggested to Claire might be the best option for her lake. 


Claire was hard at work, checking out floating island manufacturers, the local council rangers and other parties trying to get things done. She has done a fantastic job getting the local council on board, and people involved in the project. I was sure that providing the swans with a safe platform of vegetation well away from the banks, dogs and fishermen, it would be used for nesting next year. 
Today I received an email from Claire with the following photos. 

The funding will pay for the island and the local council have agreed to maintain it in the future.

The Council rangers installed and anchored the island with a growing medium spread over. Prior to nesting next year I have suggested that they should spread several inches of straw over the island, and leave it for the swans to do the rest. 

Claire said the swans were watching the installation from a distance last week, and a few days later one of their group members spotted the swans sitting on the island ! 

She is delighted with the success, and so am I. Her compassion and commitment to fundraising and the project is inspiring, extract from Claire's email to me this morning -

"Thank you once again for your time, knowledge and advice, it really was invaluable and very very much appreciated."  

It's nice to know that Nairn Swans island inspired others. I can hardly wait until next spring to see Claire's Swan project triumph !