Yesterday Sue had an away day with her 3 cygnets and once again Trust member Avril was on hand to capture their return on video.
The big surprise was, that Sue was accompanied by 8 cygnets !
These were probably a family that had recently been fledged and latched onto Sue and her offspring on the way home.
This is the time of year when swans start to jettison their cygnets to fend for themselves, these ones I reckon were a few weeks older than Sue's.
Slim and Sue spent an hour and half trying to chase them out of the Moat - their exclusive territory !
Slim is still unable to fly, so he left the job mainly to Sue who eventually got them all into the river and escorted them back to Sea.
One returned this morning but was given short shrift by Sue, watched closely by Slim and the cygnets. One of them joined in the expulsion, and I suspect it was the male. Was getting dark so yesterdays photos are poor. Avril's short video below captures the lovely sound of the wings as they pass overhead.
2 comments:
For the first time since lockdown in March Hymie and I were in Nairn yesterday morning. We had stayed a night in Forres. We did see a family of swans at Sanquhar pond. Was lovely to see so much wildlife on the Nairn river. The mum and baby swans were no where to be seen, must have been away flying, but was great to see Slim there. Hopefully we will be able to visit more often next year! Well done to everyone involved in the trust. Stay safe in these uncertain times.
Fiona Mackay
Wick
Hi Fiona, Sue and the cygnets are in the river most of the time, but she has been taking them away occasionally for flight training. A pity that was one of the days you were here. Slim is almost able to fly again and will be joining them shortly for flying lessons together. I'll continue to keep the blog updated so you can follow their progress. Hope you and Hymie keep well and stay safe. Joe.
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