High Drama on the riverside today as the Swans come under attack from the Crows! To rescue a cygnet only for it to be killed a few hours later is a bitter pill to swallow- but this is exactly what happened today. This morning I saw Slim lunge at a Crow near the base of the island, then fly after it for about 100 metres before chasing it across the gravel, it was an extraordinary sight. It only became apparent later, that the Crow had grabbed a cygnet and flown off with it until forced to drop it by Slim !
While all this was going on, Sue descended from the nest with all her cygnets...but she only had 7, what happened to 8 and 9 ?
I decided to have a look at the nest to see if any were there, sure enough just inches outside the nest was the headless body of a cygnet. I deduced that it must have been killed when it was alone on the nest for whatever reason. Meanwhile Slim was still having a yo- yo set to with a pair of crows down river.
When Sue came down off the nest Slim started to head back up to join the family. Some time later a passer by said he saw a lone cygnet down in the area where Slim had been battling with the Crows.
Myself and 2 other Trust members went to investigate but could find no trace of the cygnet - we assumed the Crows had taken it. Later still, Trust member Donald came back from a short trip to the harbour to tell me he saw the cygnet in the harbour basin ! Myself and new Trust secretary Iona and Donald all rushed down tot the harbour to effect a successful rescue. It was a brilliant team effort by the Trust and Slim to save the Cygnet. It appeared ok with no visible injuries so I took it back to Sue and the siblings for release. It was slightly slower in the water than the others, but I hoped it was not serious and would check it again in a couple of hours. I was gutted 2 hours later to discover that Sue only had 7 cygnets and the downy fluff was scattered around the edge of the moat. Dealing with wildlife can be so rewarding, but equally heartbreaking too.
