Wings

Like Mum and Dad, one day these little cygnets will reach for the sky !

Bathtime

Our Swan Family have some regular habits, a nice meal then a bath !

Bird of Brae

Maria of the Wool shop on the brae, had a little surprise for me today, in the form of a seagull chick that tried to enter her shop. Obviously fallen from the roof, Maria did not want to put it back into the street for fear of it being run over, so brought it to me. 

Already up to the eyes with 21 ducklings and 2 mother ducks I could do nothing except call the Scottish SPCA who promptly picked it up...only after I gave it some Tuna which went down a treat ! 

The Nairn seagull hatch is well under way, and the usual crop on the usual sites are coming on apace.

Remedial Action

Since the death of Feisty and her brood, I have taken some remedial action to try and curtail the mating activities of the Drakes. For the past 5 days I have not been feeding them, in the hope that they will spend more time finding food and less time chasing the females! Currently I am only supplementing the Swans feeding and also the nesting female ducks that fly in for a quick meal. The ratio of drakes to ducks has been steadily getting out of kilter over the past few years.

 There are a number of reasons for this, the most basic is that female ducks are much more at risk because they have to produce the next generation by nesting on the ground and spending 6 weeks laying around a dozen eggs then incubating them. 

During this time they lose half their bodyweight and some are killed by Dogs, Mink, Otters and other predators. The Drakes run no such risk and only stay with their mate until incubation starts, then they leave and join the other drakes on the river, building up a community of males. 

At the last count in the spring we had around 65 Drakes and 45 females, it would have been better the other way round ! 

Some Drakes retain their heightened readiness to mate, although most lose interest during the hot summer months. Naturally broods are made up of both sexes but we seem to be getting more males than females over the past few years ! Hopefully we will get more hatches over the next couple of months, but I fear the Crows will wipe out most if not all of them. As I have stated before, I have no problem with predation - as long as it doesn't end with the Crows !! Even the RSPB acknowledge that Crows can decimate another species.

Meanwhile as the top predator, I have 21 ducklings under care that will now have to be kept until almost fledged, the only way of outsmarting the Crows it seems !

Desperate Drakes Kill Feisty Duck

After caring for Feisty and her brood of 9 for nearly 6 weeks, she and 7 of her ducklings have been killed. 
I am gutted by this disaster, especially since I reared Feisty herself as a duckling in 2012.
She produced 2 broods last year all of which were killed by crows, this year I was certain she would succeed by keeping them safe until half grown before releasing them back to the river. I did not reckon on the desperate Drakes anxious to mate with any female duck they could catch, and this was the fate to befall Feisty.

From the moment I released her with the brood she was pursued relentlessly by many drakes, to the point where I tried to intervene to stop the onslaught and allow her to care for her brood. The day after release she was getting exhausted and I managed to chase the drakes away long enough for her to hide under the bushes on the riverside. 

Meanwhile the Crows were picking off the ducklings two or three a day since Feisty could not look after them. I realised the situation was critical and took the net with me 3 days after release to try and catch the surviving ducklings. I searched for Feisty in the bushes where I last saw her hide, and found her body

 - it was heartbreaking for me. In addition I could not get the remaining 3 ducklings since the tide was against me, and when I returned the next day there was only one left which I managed to catch. Later I heard from a resident overlooking the river that a few hours earlier, another of the ducklings was being attacked by a Crow and he chased it off and retrieved the injured duckling that he then gave to the SPCA. I have not yet heard how it has fared. (UPDATE : Phoned SPCA today - the duckling was put to sleep because of injuries.) 
I have seen another duck killed by Drakes attempting to mate earlier this year, they can be pretty brutal regardless of the condition of the female. Females lose about half their bodyweight laying around a dozen eggs, and are in a weakened condition when they hatch their brood. Being pounced on by as many as a dozen Drakes and unable to escape, ducks sometimes get killed, and their orphaned ducklings taken by Crows and gulls. Drakes usually begin to calm down during the hot summer weather when they start to moult, something which we have not yet had !  Although this is June it feels like early April - this might have some bearing on why the Drakes are still switched on to mating.
Feisty's one surviving duckling will only be released when ready to fly, I sincerely hope it's a female like feisty !

White Delight

The Harbour street rescued ducklings are coming on nicely, with Mum looking after them. The White one is a sheer delight to watch. Video clip below.

Crow Deterrent

So far this season has been a disaster for ducklings, all hatches totalling 65 on the lower river that I am aware of have been killed by the Crows.

Having also taken 2 cygnets, these predators are without doubt the biggest threat to young birds on the riverside.

 The dead Crow that I placed on the island last week as a deterrent for the Swans has been well used.

The swans have now taken to sitting around the carcass and the Crows steer well clear of them - as the photos show.  Sadly this does not help the ducklings.

Blondie

Blondie and her brood are doing well, it's amazing how there is only one white duckling in the brood.

Enjoy the short video below - taken this morning.

West End Rescue

Was flagged down by a local resident this afternoon and told about a light coloured mother duck and one duckling in Thurlow road. This light coloured duck is one of three rescued last year and the sister of the one rescued last week in Harbour street. I had no choice but to investigate and was lucky enough to find a resident who saw the duck and duckling in her garden, apparently it had 4 ducklings earlier but the Crows were picking them off. The mother was sitting in a driveway with one solitary duckling underneath her. I managed to get her into a corner and caught both her and the duckling. 

She is now beside her sister in the garage coop, she will share the Aviary for a month before I put them back in the river.  Seems like we have 2 sisters, one who preferred Fishertown and one who preferred the west end ! 

The Delight and The Danger

The miserable May weather continues unabated, if it wasn't for the delight of the ducklings I think I would be really depressed about it. 

With the delight comes the danger, for the Mother as well as the ducklings. Feisty has been pounced on by many of the spare drakes on the river, desperate to mate with any female duck that appears.

The spring like weather conditions - more like March than May seems to have prolonged the urge to mate. Feisty is in hiding and her newly released ducklings are left on their own, fortunately sticking close together and so far avoiding being taken by predators.

The rescued Harbour street ducklings are now a week old but sadly two of the 11 have died. I found one on the stone floor and the other in the straw, both were wet, they may been stood on by the mother or drowned accidentally in the water tub. Dangers for tiny ducklings are never far away.

Feisty Duck Brood Released

At almost 5 weeks old, today I released the feisty mother and her brood of 9 ducklings who were previously trapped behind a riverside wall. 

Hopefully they will be too big for the crows now, and the Mother will protect them well. I know she is feisty enough, since she attacked me a couple of times while replacing her straw bedding - she thought I was about to pick up one of her ducklings ! ( Short video below )

Cold Killer

This is the coldest May I can ever remember and it is serving the predators well. Today another Mother duck turned up on the river with 5 ducklings and I watched as 3 were taken one after another over about 30 minutes by a Crow. 

This evening she had lost the last two, I have no problem with predation as long as it continues right to the ultimate predator - us,  however I do have a problem with predation stopping at Crows !! It is so depressing to witness this constant slaughter. The cold weather means a distinct lack of insect life, not suitable for young birds.

The cygnets are growing and making full use of the renovated Moat and nest site. 

Harbour Street Rescue

One of the light coloured ducks rescued last year has come up trumps by hatching 11 little beauties herself.
I knew she was nesting close to harbour street but not the exact position until yesterday. 

It turned out she was nesting behind ...wait for it... Hideaway cottage !  It was so apt and well hidden among brambles and nettles ...unfortunately behind a 4 foot wall with no escape route for the hatched ducklings. 

After gaining permission from the owners of the Cottage and the Bothy, I planned the rescue with the help of Eddie Lang a local man with a love of nature. After some scratches and tussle we managed to catch both Mum and Ducklings who are now happily safe at the rescue centre. I would like to thank the residents of the Hideaway Cottage and The Bothy in harbour street for their permission and good will, as well as Eddie for a job well done. 

One of the Ducklings is pure yellow and will turn white in 6 weeks time, her Mother must be carrying the white Campbell duck gene, just like 3 previous ones a few years back. The Crows would have this duckling in five minutes, so none of these ducklings will be released until safe to do so.

Thank You Nairn CO-OP Shoppers !

Once again a Big Thank You from the River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust to Paul Thomson the Manager of Nairn King street Co-op Store, the Staff and Shoppers for more Donations of £207-70.
This brings the Total given by Nairn Shoppers this year to £541-64.
This money is used exclusively for the welfare of the River Nairn Water birds their habitat and environment. 
No trustee receives any payment, since all trustees are voluntary contributors.

The Trust spends over £2500 a year on the birds welfare, and the Co-op sum will go a long way to helping with it's commitments.

Right now we are caring for 19 ducklings and a mother duck, as well as feeding and caring for the swans cygnets, and river ducks.

The cygnet that was recently attacked and injured by a crow has made a full recovery, as can be seen here on Mum's back yesterday !
Thank you Nairn King st Co-op Shoppers !

Dog Danger

One of our Trust members was aghast yesterday at the sight of a dog running amok trying to catch nesting ducks on the river. The woman owner was jogging and did not have the dog under control. 
This was close to the Swans island and fortunately the swans where elsewhere, otherwise it could have been a tragedy. There is no excuse for out of control dogs, and the trust will pass details to the dog warden and Police.  It is an offence for a dog to be out of control in a public place.