Friday 31 December 2021

TRUST ACCOUNTS FOR 2021



 Now 9 years since the founding of the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust. The first years have been personally the most financially costly for me. However, I am pleased to report that once again we are in the black with a balance of £357.03 The Total outgoings were £3335-97 with an income total of £3693-00.




The Bulk of the outgoings were on feed for our Birds, grain alone costing over £2140.The benefits to the birds are obvious, with a healthy population again gracing our waters. The special selection of mixed grains and maintenance pellets, ensure birds in the best of health.




Thanks to our members continuing support, we can all enjoy the benefits of seeing happy waterfowl. Maybe our local council will finally decide to help out, for a feature that improves the lives of our local citizens, and benefits the Town?

Sunday 26 December 2021

Boxing Day Birds



Easterly wind and frosty conditions, make for hungry river birds ! 



                     In spite of my Scooter breaking down, I managed to get down to feed our feathered friends, Christmas day and today.



 A few pics and short video below, gives you an idea of mealtimes. 





Not forgetting Robin, Saffron, Ebony, Disco and Newbie at home.  




Thursday 23 December 2021

Seasons Greetings !



The Trust would like to Thank all our Members for their continued support of the River Nairn Birds. 



We wish you all a Happy,  Healthy Christmas and New Year ! Thanks to you, our River Birds are Thriving and in great shape for the coming year... roll on Spring !


Friday 17 December 2021

Review 2021 Highlights



Year two of the pandemic, and the virus is currently rampant. There is also outbreaks of avian flu in the south of the country. This is an ongoing threat, and we can only hope it does not show up here ! It has been a very successful year on the river, and thought I would share some of the high points that helped me get through the pandemic so far. Resilience is something the birds show me all the time, be it Slim,  Sue and the cygnets, or Doris, ducklings, and Disco, with their infirmities, or the Robins and Dunnocks with their survival strategies.



 Last winter we were hit with a cold snap that almost froze over the entire river. 





We had a hungry Swan arriving in Mid winter looking for sanctuary, and started Moulting ! This was totally out of Character for a female swan at that time of year. She was in danger of being killed by Slim, and I had no choice but to remove her from the river until she re grew her new plumage.



 I called her Briget as she knew the river well and was obviously reared there years before. It was a challenge with the small garden pond freezing over almost every night. 



But we managed, and she was eventually released into the Beauly firth.




Also during that time, Slim and Sue had still not chased their first offspring away from the river. 



Being first time parents they did not appear to know just how to offload their 3 cygnets, and only managed one at a time right up until a couple of weeks before nesting again in March! 



During January, Slim and Sue started Bonding, with the longer days starting to show. The video clip below, shows them busily bonding with still 2 of their offspring watching the proceeding close up ! 


 This was one of the loveliest scenes I witnessed last January !  This bonding session was a reaffirmation of their lifelong commitment, and the continuation of the Dynasty, culminating in a nest and clutch of 9 eggs in the spring!



Both of them saw off every intrusion by other Swans looking for a prime nesting site. 



From the 14th May, the cygnets started to hatch, with the final one hatching on the 17th. This 100% success was short lived as the Crows managed to kill 2 of them within the first few days. Slim tried his best to save one, and chased the Crow persistently until the Crow dropped the cygnet at the rivers edge. 



Although I retrieved the cygnet from the harbour and put it back with Slim and Sue, it  was taken by the Crows later that day. Slim and Sue have learned a valuable lesson about Predatory Crows and how dangerous they are to their offspring.

The Trust was fortunate to acquire a new Secretary in the spring, Iona Gibson who offered her talents freely, for the benefit of the birds and the local environment. 



Not just a pretty face, as a Trustee she designed this years Calendar, produced some gift cards, helped with repairs to the Moat and some litter picking as well.



Watching the cygnets grow over the year has been a joy to Locals and visitors alike, a welcome distraction from the Covid ! 





They are currently still in the river, and probably wont be chased off until we are heading for spring.



Early May, we had a surprising exotic visitor.. a Mandarin duck. 





He was a real eye catcher and stayed on the island for about 3 weeks,



                      sharing the daily feed with the mallards, I hope he returns next year ! 


The connection and trust between me and the ducks has grown over the years. This almost payed an extraordinary dividend had it not been for a high spring tide. I discovered one of our river ducks nesting below the high tide mark, and knew it would be swept away in a couple of days.



                      It bothered me so much as I knew she had been sitting for several weeks. I decided to make a raft to support the nest and eggs. 


But would she use it, or abandon the nest ? I also knew she only came off the nest once a day for a feed and relief, so I timed the intervention as she was off the nest for 10 minutes.



                         I had to make sure the nest would be on exactly the same spot, so removed all the eggs and nest to the side and sat the reed raft down and then put the nest and eggs back on the same spot. I watched with bated breath as she returned and cautiously looked at the nest and settled back on top of the eggs ! 



 Eureka, I was overjoyed!

 


The big test would come when the rising tide came in the next day. The nest rose with the tide and I thought I had won. 


Mother nature then threw up a strong northerly wind the following day, and the surrounding floating debris overwhelmed the raft and eggs were open to the seagulls attack! It was a glorious failure, but only due to coincidental weather conditions ! 



Disco our resident Disabled duck, produced a massive clutch of 17 eggs nesting outdoors for the first time, instead of the coop as previous years. With only a week to go before hatching, she was spooked off the nest late one cold night...by a Mouse !  After 3 or 4 hours she would not return to the nest and the eggs were cold. I made a decision to take some indoors and put them in the incubator n the hope that some might survive. I went to bed at 2am and Disco was still off the nest. The next morning she was on the nest and sat tight all day, but again the Mouse must have got under her nest for the warmth and spooked her off again! I was certain the eggs would not survive as they were stone cold before she returned to sit again. 



Meanwhile I candled the eggs in the incubator and was astonished to see signs of life.. in all of them ! A few days later they hatched, followed a day later by disco's, all of them hatched ! This was true resilience, and proves the point that a nest with cold eggs does not mean they will not survive. 



Then July after Disco's ducklings were released into the river, I was informed about a duck that had been run over with 10 ducklings in tow. They were rescued initially by Lyndy Geddes at the scene, and informed me within an hour of the accident. I collected the Duck with a badly broken leg and her 10 ducklings that had escaped injury. 



Having treated injured ducks before, I gave her a painkiller and immobilsed the broken leg, putting her and the ducklings into a spare coop. A trip to the vet the following morning was negative and looked like the choice of euthanise or crippled duck. I decided to phone our avian adviser and explained the position and that I thought the best course of action was to soft splint the leg in a forward semi sitting position, with the addition of pain killer anti inflammatory and antibiotic treatment and see what happens. 



Our avian adviser agreed and I reset the leg and started the treatment. Two weeks later I removed the soft splint and crossed my fingers. I called the duck Doris, and she hopped out of the coop occasionally putting down the leg avoiding weight on it.



                      I thought at least she would be able to use it as a prop to get around. This looked like it might be the end result.. 



but slowly she started to use the leg more and more and my hopes rose for a better result.



 She reared her ducklings for the next 9 weeks in the garden, and was delighted when we  released her and her ducklings back to the river, 



where she still resides today !

Also saved a few other injured birds during the year, but the main catch was 2 ducklings Saffron and Ebony. 



Seeing a little yellow duckling maybe once every few years, but this year a duck turned up with 3 yellow and 4 dark ones. I knew the Crows would have them within days and decided to catch the Yellow ones if possible. I left it for a day and the Crows had one, the following day they had another. I donned the waders and finally caught the last one and a dark sibling.



 The yellow one is female and the sibling male, they are now sharing the garden and pond with Disco, who I hope, will mate with the sibling next year. 



The yellow one hopefully will mate with another Drake from the river. 

Would like to Thank all those Trust members who have helped support our river wildlife

The whole years postings can be seen by clicking on the Months on the left side of the homepage.

Tuesday 14 December 2021

Shortest Days



Approaching the mid winter point, and the shortest days are upon us. 



Slim and Sue are now unlikely to offload the cygnets until new year. 



Meanwhile their daily feed is relished by all our river birds.



 Long dark nights, icy cold water and short days mean a scramble for the Trust grain when it arrives.



Afterwards, a refreshing bath in  the Moat sets them up for another long night-Brr ! Short video below.