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Having killed around 50 ducklings in the river so far, the crows have now also killed a cygnet earlier today! Eye witness accounts told me the crow was jumping around the nest area and eventually made a successful grab for a newly hatched cygnet, killing it at the base of the island.
Penny was still hatching her clutch and could not move, and Popeye the cob was limited with his reach. I am still surprised that the crow got so close to the nest during the hatching. These crows are causing a huge amount of carnage on the riverside, and are becoming ever more skilled as time goes by. Having retrieved the dead cygnet I was surprised by the size and weight, and the crow could not have flown off with it. No wonder tiny ducklings don't stand a chance with these predators.
The River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust will have to see what action we can take to combat this destructive menace.
The swans hatching is still in progress, but the windy weather is very much in the crows favour.
While retrieving the dead cygnet, I took the opportunity of taking a few pics and short video of the nest site below, enjoy !
For the 8th year Popeye and Penny have done the business and started to hatch their cygnets. Today I expected the hatch and was not disappointed. For a brief moment the skies were clear and I saw the first one appear from under her wings.
The weather ensured that it was brief, because the heavy showers and cold wind made her tuck them under her protective wings. I did manage however to get a few shots as Penny gave herself a clean underneath. I am fully expecting at least 8 but possibly her record of 9 yet again.
The cold weather is a problem and might drive her into the harbour for shelter too quickly, plus the fact that the resident Otters pose a real threat to the cygnets.
Once again the Crows have wiped out the entire river population of Ducklings in the past week, so far all 4 hatchings that I'm aware of have been taken by the Crows.
Two days ago I rescued another 2 ducklings that were about to be taken, having seen one of their siblings being picked off the surface of the moat by a crow.
The Mother was nowhere to be seen and most likely chased by the single Drakes, leaving the ducklings to the mercy of the crows. It was more than I could stand so added them to the 8 recently incubated ones from an abandoned nest. They have been accepted since there was only about three days difference in age.
Meanwhile the mother with 9 is doing well in the safety of the aviary. These ducklings are the only survivors in what has been a devastating couple of weeks on the lower river. For those of you who haven't managed to see any this year so far...a short clip of the ones in the brooder below.
Over the last couple of weeks the Sand Martins have been scouring the lower river in search of food.
The cold weather has done them no favours, but these beautiful elegant little birds have been working overtime, picking up the tiniest of flies from the riverside.
Trying to take photos of them is pretty difficult, since they are always in flight.
However I spent some time today at a spot where they repeated their flight paths, and managed a few reasonable shots.
The rescued Mother duck and her brood of 9 have settled in and thriving.
The same can be said for the 8 newly hatched ducklings - a photo of a mother duck helps with their rearing and security.
The River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust has a new Trustee Secretary, and close Guardian of the riverside birds. Morag Paterson has Taken over from Carla Payne who is stepping down due to family, work, and other commitments. The Trust wishes to thank Carla for her past endeavours for the Trust.
Morag who lives in Harbour street overlooking the river, is ideally placed to keep a close eye on our river wildlife. Morag is also a keen outdoors and fitness guru, and has a pleasant diplomatic manner.
She has a hands on approach to the riverside and is not afraid to pick up occasional litter which annoys most of us !
The Trust now has 147 members and many other local supporters, Morag is a welcome addition to the Trusts organisation.
Another welcome addition to the river this morning was a new Mother with 14 ducklings!
Sometimes young first year inexperienced ducks get caught out by the changing tide heights, some lay their eggs below the spring tide levels. One such case was last month when I spotted a scattered flooded nest with 10 eggs, two of which had been broken open by the gulls or crows. There was no point in leaving the eight remaining eggs since the mother had abandoned the nest which was being flooded daily. I took them home and checked to see if incubation had already started but appeared not so - but still viable so put them in the incubator. I already had another single egg in the fridge which unbelievably one young duck had laid on the stone riverside path, so I marked it with the letter S and put that in the incubator too ! After 6 days I candled the eggs and discovered that 8 had living embryos and one was a dud.
The above photo was taken this morning showing 4 newly hatched ducklings, the others should hatch within the next 24 hours. The single one marked with an S is still to hatch, but at least it will have many brothers and sisters to greet it !!
When safe to do so, these ducks will be reared and released back into the river.
Ducks are amazing at choosing awkward nest sites, safety from predators is their primary concern, and who can blame them. They have to lay and incubate their clutch undisturbed for 5 weeks. With that in mind, one of the ducks I helped rehab 3 years ago - a sister of Sari one of the light coloured ducks chose a very good nest site.
Unfortunately it was behind a wall which the hatched ducklings had no chance of scaling. I did provide a ramp the day before hatching, but for whatever reason she did not use it and I had no choice but to rescue the whole family of 8 ducklings. They are now safely in the coop, and will have the use of the Aviary for the next few weeks until it's safe to release them back to the river.
I am particularly pleased with this rescue, because this same duck had two broods last year - all of which were taken by crows....this time she will have something to crow about when she gets back to the river !
Cold northerly wind and low night time temperatures are testing the newly hatched ducklings to the limit.
Any brief moment when the sun breaks through the cloud is a warming tonic for the ducklings to chill out.
We now have two cute broods hatched, and more on the way.
Yesterday evening the first ducklings appeared on the river. I was unable to tell how many because they were under their Mum. The bitterly cold wind and overnight frost most unwelcome, their Mum managed to keep them alive - at least until today. I don't know how many she started with but currently has six. I would ask all who see them NOT TO THROW BREAD AT THEM - this will only attract crows and gulls to their location, and they will be taken.
Nature can be pretty cruel, especially on a grand scale with a big change in weather conditions. Some ducklings are just about due to hatch, and the last thing they need is a return to the current winter weather !
Even 5 weeks ago the weather was warmer.
Having to contend with predators is bad enough, but cold and lack of insect life guarantees little chance of survival. I can only hope that hatching is delayed and the weather changes for the better.
By chance I got the opportunity to catch the Red Breasted Merganser in flight this evening. It was swimming down the moat and took off virtually in front of me.
They have very short rapid wing beats, so difficult to shoot with camera on auto !
With the nesting season well under way a little bit of warmth is needed to help with any newly hatched ducklings.
Although the weather has been
reasonable, locally we could do with a rise in temperature to help with insects hatching and other food sources for the expected ducklings. There have been a few butterflies around which gives the appearance of summer, and the Merganser has been doing a spot of fishing as well - Short video below.
Another glorious summer day, and one of the most amazing happenings with Popeye and Penny since they came here.
Popeye escorted one of their female offspring back to the nesting site while Penny was sitting on the new clutch ! I can only surmise what was going on, but it looked like he was flirting with his offspring.
Penny was having none of it and was off the nest in a flash and into attack mode, chasing the cygnet away.
Perhaps the young cygnet was an earlier version of Penny, and Popeye could not resist the attraction !
Anyway this evening all was restored, and Popeye was dutifully sitting beside his partner and their future offspring to be.
PIGEON UPDATE! The ID number on the pigeon is NE3856SU14.
In the space of 18 hours I was contacted by two Nairn residents reporting 2 injured birds. One of these was a Herring gull found in Gordon street, and the other was a homing Pigeon found in Douglas street. Both had been shot ! The Police have been informed as well as the Scottish SPCA who took the gull away.
The pigeon I took to the Vet to see if it could be saved, unfortunately the injuries were too severe and it had to be put to sleep. Perhaps the owner might recognise the rings on the pigeon, a green one on the right leg and a yellow one on the left.
It seems we have a shooter in the town, now hunted by both the Police and the SPCA.
These birds are innocent creatures and have as much right to be on the Planet as the rest of us, the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust will not tolerate the senseless killing of birds and will assist the Police and SPCA whenever we can.YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !
Trust Member and keen naturalist George Berryman has once again seen the Little Egret near the Culbin.
Standing on one leg it was still some distance away, but George got a couple of pics just the same.
Hopefully it will become a "local" bird and also have a mate too.
As I have remarked in the past, being in the right place with a camera at the right time sometimes results in getting unusual shots.
Today was one such occasion when a Sparrowhawk downed and drowned a pigeon only yards away from me.
The pigeon frantically tried to escape and eventually broke free, it only travelled a matter of 30 feet before the hawk hit it again and both fell into the river.
The hawk was determined to keep it's kill and held the pigeon under the water, it was pitiful to watch because the pigeon was being drowned and the hawk could not lift it out of the water. It was a waste of a pigeons life as it floated away, and the hawk took off. Sequence of shots tells the story.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the customers, management and staff of the King street Co-op in Nairn for donating £333- 94 to the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust.
The Trust is extremely grateful for the generous spirit of the local population, and the interest and care they show for our local water birds.
All of the donations will be used exclusively for the welfare and benefit of the birds and their environment.
We wish everyone a Happy Easter !
