Walking on Water

The Nairn Cygnets are looking great - healthy and strong and in perfect condition for flying. I was a bit too far away today to see them having a wee sortie up the river, but I took a couple of distance shots showing them treading water with the wings going. The parents watched their progress but took no part in the exercise. With High tides due late next week I think they will be making daily trips to the seaweed near the swimming pool, this might give them a chance for short sea flights if the weather is mild. Soon they 'll be taking off, flying and landing like the cob in the lower pics. With a 2 metre wingspan they will look and sound great in flight !

Descended from Dinosaurs

In the overall timescale of the planet we have been here in about the blink of an eye, yet we think we know everything ! I missed the bulk of the TV program on the bird type dinosaurs tonight, but the evidence is clear on the evolution of birds from dinosaurs. I can easily imagine swans having descended from dinosaurs, with evidence still there to be seen today. Take a look at the feet of the Cob which I took some time ago, the scaly effect, then there's the hissing when annoyed, probably a very early prehistoric sound, the spline ridges along the mouth which were probably once teeth like. Yeah, it's easy to imagine they are Dinosaur descendants !

New Ducks ?

Today I saw 4 new ducks in the Harbour a Drake and 3 ducks, I suspect they have been put there for they are not wild Mallards but a domestic species. They look like Khaki Campbell's and have obviously been reared by humans, in addition they are unable to fly at the moment due to either wing clipping or moulting. They look exactly like the previous pair we had in the river a few years ago, larger than the mallards but very friendly and produce a lot of offspring. They mix and breed with the mallards and create hybrids of various colours. From what I've read, Khaki Campbell's are a mixture of Indian runners, Rouen, and mallard ducks anyway.

Some people will take exception to putting another species with wild stock and mixing the natural gene pool. Personally I don't have a problem with different ducks inhabiting the river, nature tends to sort them out over time.

The previous ones produced some lovely ducklings but many were killed because their light colouring made them obvious targets for the hoodie crows. The parents were good at producing and rearing their offspring and were highly successful, were it not for human badness ! Two of the light coloured ducks were killed by humans with catapults as I stated on older postings, - an awful heartbreaking crime on such beautiful innocent creatures. http://simplysuperbswans.blogspot.com/2009/06/duck-disaster-you-will-find-that-i-am.html

Needless to say If anyone sees wildlife crime they should contact me or the police.

Anyway, a bit of new colour in the river is welcome and I'm sure the new additions will mix well with the Mallards. The Cygnets were intrigued with them too.

Little Auk Dies - Puffin in fact !

UPDATE : I have just heard from the RSPB that the bird was in fact a young Puffin although the beak and colouring have not yet developed ! This might explain the chest injury if it fell /dived onto rocks - very sad anyway.

Sadly the little Auk found at the carse yesterday died at Midnight. It had an injury to the chest which I only discovered on inspection after it had died. Beneath the feathers was a wet patch which I thought was because it was always laying down on it's chest, there was a small tear in the skin and small hole, maybe caused by another bird or maybe an airgun - who knows. I had phoned my friend and Avian adviser Sue earlier for her advice. She consulted a seabird expert who recommended feeding the bird with sprats until strong enough for release. Sadly all in vain now.

Arctic Little Auk

Some Local good Samaritans out at the Carse found a Little Auk on the shore, they brought me the bird to see if I might look it over. I did not know what species it was until I checked my bird book, to find it was called a "Little Auk". It appeared tired out and is probably exhausted by being blown off course during strong sea gales. I think it's perhaps a juvenile just developing it's winter plumage and got caught in the recent deep low pressure that swept across the country in the last few days. Did not appear to be injured, showed no fear of humans and was easily handled. According to the bird book they winter in the open ocean, but are driven south into the North sea when food is scarce and can be driven onto our shores during autumn gales. They breed in the Arctic islands on Spitsbergen and Greenland, food is mainly plankton and small sea creatures, also eats fish and shellfish. It's a very dumpy endearing little bird, and I hope it survives. Hopefully rest and recovery time is probably all that's needed, but I will have a little fish on hand just in case!

Hard to Believe

The cygnets have just turned 4 months old, which is very hard to believe considering their size ! They are fast losing their baby feathers and being replaced by more white. Flight training appears to be on hold just lately, and the cob has another week or two before he gets his new flight feathers. Maybe then we'll see some short flights around the bay ? The pics show the pen teaching them how it's done. Meanwhile the Swans and ducks are eating 20kg of wheat a week from me alone, not to mention the grass and wholemeal bread ! (Short vid below of wheat mealtime, note how the protective parents still position themselves at either end). Three donations from well wishers in the past week ensures the waterbirds food supply - Thank you wildlife lovers, much appreciated !

Council Cutters Wanted

I notice this weeks local front page refers to a riverside cleanup project between the road bridge and merryton sewage bridge. The plan appears to be in doubt because of sewage discharge and contamination issues, frankly I'm not surprised. From my observations over the years, there appears to be several discharge points in that small area, this is in addition to the large Scottish water outfall pipe which leaks frequently - even in dry weather. There might also be two other drains from merryton and elsewhere. The lush growth and height of the trees is testament to the nutrition provided by the sewage discharges ! It's ironic that when walking under the roadbridge every day you have to duck to avoid being smacked on the moosh by the overhanging bushes, yet the council saw fit to vandalise a 5 foot strip of inoffensive wildlife habitat behind the seamans hall ! This is just another example of government mismanagement and wrong use of resources. Could the council kindly trim the overhanging skelpers at the roadbridge, and also the Berberis darwinii at the old harbour walk before someone sues them ? ( make sure you remove the berberis cuttings since the thorns are lethal !)

Swan Etiquette

As the Nairn cygnets mature and have little skirmishes, the parents occasionally pull them together for etiquette and protocol in such matters. This culminates in communication with cygnets cheeping and head nodding, finally grunting by the Cob draws a line under any bad behaviour.

Gulls Fixed

After a week of good food and medication it was time to release the Bumble foot gull back to the riverside, the foot infection and limping had all but gone. I let it go at the bottom of Brochers brae where it walked along the wall then flew around the river, returning to the top of the arcade, probably where it was hatched. I returned home and the other gull that has been with me for about two weeks, left of it's own accord an hour later, I think the departure of the earlier one was the trigger. It was in good health and the bad leg and wing had both healed. Two successful rescue results and my garden is free of bird casualties - for the moment job done !

I am however trying to catch a Mallard drake with a broken wing, so far without success because he can run faster than me ! I will keep trying though.

The Look

With Blustery autumn winds and the leaves turning, all my hopes of a late summer are fast disappearing! The Cygnets will be 4 months old next week and it's hard to believe they are the size of the parents already. The previous pair of Swans used to chase their cygnets away around the 6th October when they were just 5 months old. It remains to be seen what will happen with our lot of 9 this time. I think the river food supply was the main deciding factor - I mean the lack of it ! This year has been a write off weather wise, and the river weed disappeared in July, the need for greenery has been obvious for the cygnets, and I do my best to supply them with some tender grass on a daily basis. In addition they get their Wheat Grain, alternating with poultry pellets and wholemeal bread. The other day the high tide allowed them access to some green willow leaves, they will be flying soon and will need all the power reserves at their disposal. I got a very Oliver twist look from a cygnet the other day when my supplier ran out of wheat - It was a, Please can I have some more Look !

Bumble Foot

Yet another young gull with a bad leg at brochers brae, this one has been around for a while and limping quite badly. I saw it sitting close to the manhole that has been spewing out sewage every time it rains hard, it seemed poorly, still has baby fluff and was not eating. Perhaps the parents have abandoned it because of it's limping and apparent illness. I managed to catch it and take it home for a good look, although it can fly OK. The left foot appears to have the start of a painful condition called bumble foot, with swelling on the underside due to bacterial infection. This usually enters the foot due to a cut or scratch and if left untreated can enter the bone and other parts of the body with dire consequences. It crossed my mind with all the sewage overspill in that area, did it get the infection there ? Anyway since the other gull I have at present is all but cured of it's leg injury, I banished it to the garden to make room in the aviary for the new patient. I consulted Sue my Avian adviser and have administered some antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication. After two days it has already shown signs of recovery and is now eating with gusto, when the limping disappears I will take it back to brochers brae and release it. Meanwhile the other gull from the same area is getting familiar with the new casualty.

Swan Safety

I was reliably informed by two eyewitnesses yesterday that the adult Swans were on the riverside path near the seaman's hall. This was exactly what I said would happen after the Council cut the vegetation which was a barrier to them getting onto the path. No one has yet owned up, as to who ordered the cutting of the wildlife habitat, but someone has alleged it was councillor Marsden ? It is just an eyesore now and with the high tide washing all the debris along the wall, maybe councillor Marsden would put his litter collecting talents to good use and pick up the daily litter along this part of the riverside ? I hear also that Nairn has won the carbuncle award, Hurrah ! No surprises here then, in fact I took a pic of an overflowing rubbish bin which has stood full all week with a recyclable cardboard box stuck alongside, part of which I pulled out of the river today. No doubt one of the houses close by cant be bothered moving away from their 51 inch TV to put the box into the available row of blue bins close by. I remarked on this blog in previous years about the lack of civic pride in Nairn, and have done my bit to beautify the River, with the provision of a beautiful Swans nesting site and cleaning the harbour from time to time.

Many of my blog viewers around the world get to see the good side of Nairn through the river wildlife, never mind we can boast that we probably have the most beautiful brood of cygnets in Scotland ! One small step for man - tonight I see the new Wildlife Safety sign has been erected at the harbour entrance - a giant leap for common sense. Too bad they didn't listen to my plea for keeping dogs on a lead signs in this area too - might be a little less dogs mess if they had !

Vets Admission & New Gull

Today I received a phone call from Moray Coast Vet Group regarding the Seagull I took in for treatment / surgery 2 weeks ago. They admitted that not informing me of their action to euthanize the bird was wrong, and unacceptable. They said that a breakdown in communication seemed to be the cause, but also admitted that their expertise in avian matters was limited. Having been a customer of theirs for over 30 years, I accept their explanation and feel assured that they will do their best in future to avoid a repetition. Surgery on birds is very risky, but I would rather see a brave attempt to save a viable life than to automatically put it to sleep. Perhaps this will be more likely in future.

Ironically I spotted a young seagull at brochers brae last week which appeared to have an injured leg . (God forbid ! ) It looked too young to have left the nest and still has some head fluff, but was limping badly. When a friend mentioned the bird to me a couple of days later, still limping and in the same location I decided to give it the once over next time I saw it. The following day it was pecking around the sewer overspill at brochers brae so I picked it up and carried it home for inspection. The left leg joint was swollen, and the left wing not sitting correctly, this leads me to believe it may well have been hit on the left side by a vehicle. The good news is that there are no broken bones that I can detect, some anti - inflammatory medication, rest and feeding until the fluff has disappeared is probably all that's required. This morning the limping has reduced, and it decided to have a bath - for this gull things are looking up!

Out Of Sight - Out of Mind

Sewerage continues to blight the River Nairn every time we get a downpour that lasts for 20 minutes. It has been obvious for years that the Town sewerage system has been over loaded and can only get worse. Because most of us don't see the problem it is in the main ignored - a case of out of sight out of mind. Scottish water should be made to rectify the problem by agencies such as SEPA (Scottish environmental protection agency) and of course our local politicians! Maybe a radical approach like refusal to give anymore planning permission to build within Nairn - until the sewage infrastructure is put right, might be one way of forcing Scottish water to invest in upgrading the system ? I for one see the effects of the sewers constantly because of my contact with the river environment, and have contacted SEPA several times. This resulted in some action which temporarily improved the situation, because they cleaned some of the system and bolted down some visible manhole covers. It was obvious this was merely going to move the problem elsewhere, recent downpours just expose the weakness and the pics above show what is happening on both sides of the river every time it rains ! I think it's time our community councils and regional politicians start taking Scottish water to task, instead of destroying the wildlife habitat and vote garnering by occasional litter picking ! The more people that complain about this issue, the better for all of us - including the wildlife!

Flock of Angels.....Not Quite !

The pen is still urging the Cygnets to stretch their wings, and they duly oblige. They have still to realise that they need space to spread their wings and today I witnessed several water crashes, due to the large wingspan and miscalculations of the young angels. One of the young cobs is exerting his dominance on the flock, and is just full of himself - attacking when the mood takes him.

Swan Love Lessons

The Cygnets have now entered adolescence and showing all the signs of restless teenagers. Earlier today the parents decided it was time to show them who was the boss of the family, and pulled them together for a love display. I just managed to get the camera rolling to catch the love heart shape, and the cob giving the powerful male grunt that only he can do. The cygnets joined in joyous cheeping, at what was basically a family love in - great to watch. Turn up your sound and enjoy - the not so Mute Swan family !