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With gales and heavy rain the river is running high, but now starting to ease before the next Storm on Friday !
There was no Sign of the Swans today in the river or the harbour, then out of the blue the flew in from the seaward side, buffeted by strong winds they landed safely at the rivers edge.
After their Christmas Feed close to the island Popeye and Penny continued to give them the odd peck, but still not serious about chasing them for good.
Some of the young ones climbed onto the island, perhaps taking stock for the future ?
I would like to wish all my viewers, especially the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust members, who have so kindly contributed to the welfare of our River waterfowl. I am sure if our Swans and Ducks could talk, they would say Thank You !
I hope you all have a warm and pleasant festive season !
Mid - Winter solstice today, and also marks my 900 blog posts to date since 2005. The river is running high and the forecast is for
more rain and snow in the hills during this festive season.
The Swans will not chase their cygnets away during this stormy unsettled weather, so likely to be here for a wee while yet.
The salmon will be spawning, and a big seal is already on the hunt for fish as witnessed today. The swans and ducks were sticking close to the Island out of harms way.
Meanwhile the pigeons have a mid- winter meal !
Four Red Breasted Mergansers were having a courting display session on the river today.
Interesting to watch and it was similar to the Goldeneye displays I have seen, with throwing the head back and extending the neck .
In the end one of them had the choice of two females, having won the display !
Sequence of pics shows the display.
The longest darkest nights are here, this means the birds have only a short time to stock up on food, with the short daylight hours.
Some of my best friends are birds, and they just can't wait to see me in the morning.
The word seems to have spread throughout the bird world that I'm a good bet for some food !
The devotion and care shown to the cygnets since they hatched is now drawing to a close.
Penny and Popeye have given 100% to their offspring for the past 7 months, and with the approaching new year their babies must now prepare to leave home and fend for themselves. Penny and Popeye prepare them gently by distancing themselves gradually in the river, at the same time observing how ready they are to be banished from the territorial home waters.
The close escort of the cygnets is over, and soon they will encourage them to stay away and leave the area for good.
Penny is the prime mover, and makes all the decisions regarding all of their future's, Popeye follows her lead in all family matters. The sequence of shots shows this process during the last few days.
Two years ago I was amazed at a male Goosander getting so close and even more amazed that I was able to feed it !
For those of you who don't know what a Goosander looks like, here's a close up video below.
The Cygnets are whitening up and are now almost certainly entering their last month on the river.
Penny is already spending some time on her own and awaits the shortest day on December 21, after that we head towards Spring - and she knows it !
Some close up shots of Popeye and the cygnets heads today.
Ferocious winds and blizzard like conditions swept across the Country today.
The river swept over the banks with the High tide and storm pushing it higher. Feeding the birds was a bone numbing trial today and they were in a desperate state by late afternoon, I did manage to feed them just before dark.
Freezing conditions tonight will ensure their desire for grain tomorrow !
Winter beckons and the birds are preparing for the darkest month and hard times ahead, feeding is the primary concern of all the species now.
The familiar sight of Robin and Blackbird down by the riverside, where Robin waits for his turn at the table !
The red breasted mergansers are busy fishing, alongside all the other water birds.
This has been a bountiful year so far, what will Winter be like ?
2007 was the year that completely changed my view on the Swans place on the River Nairn. This was both a year of disaster and triumph for the Swans.
The disasters of that year were many, Popeye and Penny after failing to nest successfully on the island strip at the roadbridge in 2006, then tried to nest within the harbour 2007 - only to have their nest swamped time and again by the spring tides.
This was followed by our resident swans returning to the harbour with their cygnets, only to be attacked and have all their cygnets killed by Popeye who considered he was protecting his new found nest site and territory. This was then followed by more tragedy when our resident cob hit power lines at lochloy and died a few days later. I found the whole of that summer very upsetting and resolved to find a solution for the Swans future. The answer lay in the creation of the Swans nesting island.
This would provide a permanent and fairly safe environment for the swans, who would not have to risk hitting power lines and also leaving their territory to be taken over by other intruders.
Top photo taken May the 6th 2005, shows first time I ever saw Popeye and Penny, the following year their failed attempt at nesting on the island strip, then the flooded nest in the harbour 2007. Finally their first successful hatching of 4 cygnets April 19th 2008. They have now successfully reared another 35 cygnets to date !
