Christmas Spirit - Not

Although our Resident swans allowed the incomer to stay with them last night and even today, they had no intention of offering peace and goodwill . It appears to be a large male cygnet and I think he thought they would be a welcoming flock, instead even our cygnets were practising their ejecting methods by escorting him up and down the river. As darkness fell the incomer was escorted out of the harbour by our pen who then turned on her own cygnets for a bit of harassment ! Unless the weather gets much worse, it looks like our lot will be pushed out of the river within a week or so. Such is the life of Swans and their ways !

Time to Say Goodbye ?

The unseasonal mild snap seems to have triggered the swans into springtime action. This afternoon with wings up they started nipping at the cygnets and chasing them to and fro, - this is usually the prelude to chasing them off for good. ( see short vid below) Ironically when I went down to see them tonight, I was amazed to see eight cygnets instead of the seven they have had for the past 5 weeks, they seem to have picked one up since 4pm today ! It could be a stranger or one of the previous pair that left 5 weeks ago. The coming week gives suitable tides for the cygnets to feed on the rocks along the shore, I would not be at all surprised for the parents to choose this time to give them the final push. Two of the cygnets were posturing on the island, and I managed to get the famous heart shape shot !

Let Them Eat Salmon

The Annual river bounty has started to arrive in the form of spent salmon being washed downstream after spawning. The young gulls are learning to make use of this annual feast !

Two other species were close by in the shape of the Moorhens and Goldeneye fishing again.

Mid Winter is tomorrow the 22nd, and the Swans might start thinking of getting rid of the cygnets shortly. It was the 12th January last time when they chased the wee ones.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone, and here's to a Happy New Year . Special Thanks to those who have donated to the welfare of the river wildlife. From a very grateful Swan and duck population -Many Thanks !

With seemingly nothing but bad economic news on a daily basis, maybe people should start making some life changing resolutions, and reassessing what really matters in this life ? No longer can people rely on onwards and upwards as far as wealth and living standards are concerned. Reports suggest that house prices will continue to fall for the next 3 years in Scotland, and unemployment likely to be at a standstill for the next decade, creating a lost generation ...again ! Materialism and consumerism I would venture to say has reached it's peak, and people should start living within their means. Food and shelter are essential for survival but much of the rest is not. Society has sucked everyone into believing that we all need continual unending progress, seeking more and more wealth and material things. This has been proved to be the road to ruin and not the road to happiness. Why not pay a visit to The Nairn Community and arts centre on Friday the 13th January at 7.30 pm and watch "Happy" the movie, at it's inaugural showing it inspired many and gives an insight into Happiness. As a member of Action for Happiness I am bringing the film to Nairn, in the hope that it will inspire not only myself but others too. The entrance fee is by way of a minimum donation of £5 per adult and half price for under 18s. The film lasts 75 minutes and proceeds will go to The Young foundation charity to help spread action for happiness around the globe.

Mid Winter Swans

With a few days to go before Mid-winter, the snow adds substance to the season. With three of the cygnets looking like, we three kings... it made a good shot for the camera ! It also brings in the river visitors and all of them looking for food. The Pintail arrived back, along with two pairs of tufted ducks. The Pintail and one of the tufted drakes always join in the melee for the wheat.

Busy

Been pretty busy lately, what with getting the film showing of Happy organised, and a few leaflets put throughout the town. Click on happy to see Roko Belic the director of happy explaining why and how the film came about ! Remember to mark your diary for Friday January 13th at 7-30pm in the community centre to see the film ! Also doing my annual blog review which takes time, and should be online soon. Making sure the Swans and ducks are getting fed too, the cold weather gets them clamouring for food and must be catered to. I thought we had lost another two cygnets today but eventually saw them coming up the river to join the family, gave them their daily ration of carrots which the whole family now get twice a day. In addition to the wheat and poultry pellets, they need some bulk vegetation to get them through the long winter nights. They are looking good though !

A Year in the Life of the Nairn Swans

Apologies to anyone recently trying to view the Nairn Swans compilation, I have had to rehash the music side due to third party copyright over the musical composition. It seems that it doesn't matter that I provided all the material, and my grand Daughter sung the song, so I have re-done the jingle and uploaded the new version to Youtube. It Can be viewed at the new link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Iyer7-U6w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Cool Cormorant

The chilly Harbour was host to a cool Cormorant the other day, standing on the upturned mink trap after the gale of last week. No easy eel meals to be had at this time of the year, as was the case during the summer.

HAPPY FILM DATE

I can confirm that the HAPPY FILM will be Screened at the Nairn Community and Arts Centre on Friday January 13th at 7-30pm. Action for happiness is part of the Young foundation Charity.

The film lasts 75 minutes, and I'm told is inspiring.

I hope there will be a good attendance for the film, and maybe it will change a few lives for the better. After all the broken resolutions and used up turkey and leftovers, maybe the HAPPY FILM will be just the tonic for a HAPPY NEW YEAR !

TRAILER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcMQmuvzPmI

Steven Seagull Part 2

With yesterdays gale the cosiest place to be was indoors...after feeding the swans and ducks of course ! I continued to trawl through the computer archives and got bitten by the movie bug again. I have uploaded another new short, entitled "Steven Seagull Part 2" which can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTaVv9AYVUk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Some new antics from Steven and the long suffering Millie, she was intimidated by him ! I also saw the male goldeneye today, fishing at the side of the Swans Island - again a bit far away for a good pic.

Sparrowhawk at Work

Just uploaded another short film to Youtube, of two Sparrowhawks in action earlier this year.

Most people if they're lucky get a fleeting glimpse of a Sparrowhawk in action, I was very lucky to see two separate incidents of sparrowhawk strikes this year and have the camera handy as well ! The film can be seen on this link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXSkCZ01Bls

Tufted Ducks & Steven video.

As I expected the Tufted ducks returned to the river today, hard weather brings them into the estuary. The same little fellow as last year with some of his mates, he immedaitely joined in the feeding session with the mallards. He specialises in diving under all the ducks and swans for food, and has a lovely tuft on his head.

I have also uploaded a new video featuring Steven the seagull that I released earlier in the year.

It gives a few of the memorable moments during his long recovery and can be seen on Youtube here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuxjNuflsTQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Overwintering

It looks like our remaining 7 cygnets will be overwintering in the river . If the parents were going to chase them off they would have done it before now, and are probably repeating the successful pattern of the last two years by keeping them until January. There is method in the madness, because keeping them will deter any other adult pair from trying to steal the territory. Trying to drive out 9 swans cannot be done easily by incomers, and our pair have realised that safety in numbers ensures survival success. Just means more expense for me providing food over the winter, but as the short video shows, all the river wildlife are thriving on it !

Feed our Feathered Friends

Looks like a repeat of last years weather has arrived, although not as cold as last year yet ! Our feathered friends need feeding and watering, so put out those leftover bits of grated cheese, crushed peanuts, fat balls, crushed biscuits, bird seed and crumbs. When its frosty they need water too. I think last year saw small birds in particular hit really hard, and many did not survive the winter. We can all do our bit to help them survive the harsh conditions. Feed the birds

This Time Last Year

With 3 weeks until mid - winter we have got off lightly compared to this time last year...so far ! Personally I like winter during December January as it should be. I was trawling through some of last years pics, and came across poor Steven the Seagull on Dec 3rd last year with the icicle hanging from his beak !

Picture Perfect Pintail

Another winter visitor arrived today in the shape of a male Goldeneye, a little too far away to get a decent pic of it. With the frost starting we can expect the Tufted ducks to arrive soon too, they are very cute ducks with a fabulous hairstyle ! Meanwhile the pintail that arrived the other day has taken up residence among the Mallards and is incredibly - pushing them around ! It was enjoying the wheat on offer and did not want the Mallards having any, if they got too close they got a nip ! I got some very detailed shots of the pintail, they are beautifully marked birds.