I’ve ‘acquired’ a pair of Swans
Discussion
Well after a lovely weekend other half and I both tested positive for Covid earlier this week so the sun wasn’t the only thing we caught. I’m back at the boats now and my Swans have come to check up on me. They seem even more bonded and Florence has gained lots of confidence around me.
Fred has been friendly nibbling my fingers - I’ve kept Chickens, Ducks and Geese before so recognise a vicious nip.
There is however another Cob around whom neither of them are pleased to see
Fred has been friendly nibbling my fingers - I’ve kept Chickens, Ducks and Geese before so recognise a vicious nip.
There is however another Cob around whom neither of them are pleased to see
Congratulations JerryEXE 
I’ll be honest I’ve lost track of them. I thought another pair arrived on the island of the lakes in the marina and my Swans had nested on the river bank. I haven’t seen them on the bank for while (thought perhaps they were sitting on eggs). So the pair on the island may well be ‘my’ Swans, having moved to a quieter/safer spot.
In the meantime the single Cob appeared. He was definitely NOT one of my Swans because he wasn’t very nice to me. See below image.
This weekend this pair have been banging their necks against the boat for attention. I saw them fly over on to the river from the island. Their friendliness and the way they were with me leads me to believe they are indeed ‘my’ Swans. I’ve tried to compare markings from photos and it does seem it’s the original Cob.
I hope this makes sense
I was working on the boat when I took these quick pics with my phone and gave them a left over bread roll from our BBQ as they were asking nicely. They’ll eat very gently from my hand.
Feathers cross your Cygnets thrive. Please keep updating
I’ll be honest I’ve lost track of them. I thought another pair arrived on the island of the lakes in the marina and my Swans had nested on the river bank. I haven’t seen them on the bank for while (thought perhaps they were sitting on eggs). So the pair on the island may well be ‘my’ Swans, having moved to a quieter/safer spot.
In the meantime the single Cob appeared. He was definitely NOT one of my Swans because he wasn’t very nice to me. See below image.
This weekend this pair have been banging their necks against the boat for attention. I saw them fly over on to the river from the island. Their friendliness and the way they were with me leads me to believe they are indeed ‘my’ Swans. I’ve tried to compare markings from photos and it does seem it’s the original Cob.
I hope this makes sense
I was working on the boat when I took these quick pics with my phone and gave them a left over bread roll from our BBQ as they were asking nicely. They’ll eat very gently from my hand.
Feathers cross your Cygnets thrive. Please keep updating
Awesome thread. We rented a tiny house with a river at the bottom of the patio for a year whilst trying to find a house to move to... River was about 20ft from the back door. It was bloody awful in winter as it was very damp.
However, I have fantastic memories of sat having my breakfast over the spring, summer and early autumn months with my 'pet' Swan.
He/she had a badly deformed beak so he/she was easily spotted. They didn't seem to be liked by the other swans so was a bit of a loaner. So he/she would come and sit with me in a morning and evening. He/she was very friendly and loved a head scratch and giving you an affectionate nibble. Saw it grow ftom a cygnet with it's grey fluff into a cob / pen. Fantastic memories.
Hope the old boy / girl is still around. Was about 20 years ago.
However, I have fantastic memories of sat having my breakfast over the spring, summer and early autumn months with my 'pet' Swan.
He/she had a badly deformed beak so he/she was easily spotted. They didn't seem to be liked by the other swans so was a bit of a loaner. So he/she would come and sit with me in a morning and evening. He/she was very friendly and loved a head scratch and giving you an affectionate nibble. Saw it grow ftom a cygnet with it's grey fluff into a cob / pen. Fantastic memories.
Hope the old boy / girl is still around. Was about 20 years ago.
There are a pair of swans that live on an old mill pond I ride past regularly, the pair know the mill house owners and seem to do as they are told. I always stop and chat to the owners when they are out and a few weeks ago helped them separate their pair from a single cob they were mobbing. The pair clearly didn't take kindly to his presence, once the single cob had some space he took off down the river.
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Awesome thread. We rented a tiny house with a river at the bottom of the patio for a year whilst trying to find a house to move to... River was about 20ft from the back door. It was bloody awful in winter as it was very damp.
However, I have fantastic memories of sat having my breakfast over the spring, summer and early autumn months with my 'pet' Swan.
He/she had a badly deformed beak so he/she was easily spotted. They didn't seem to be liked by the other swans so was a bit of a loaner. So he/she would come and sit with me in a morning and evening. He/she was very friendly and loved a head scratch and giving you an affectionate nibble. Saw it grow ftom a cygnet with it's grey fluff into a cob / pen. Fantastic memories.
Hope the old boy / girl is still around. Was about 20 years ago.
“They”.However, I have fantastic memories of sat having my breakfast over the spring, summer and early autumn months with my 'pet' Swan.
He/she had a badly deformed beak so he/she was easily spotted. They didn't seem to be liked by the other swans so was a bit of a loaner. So he/she would come and sit with me in a morning and evening. He/she was very friendly and loved a head scratch and giving you an affectionate nibble. Saw it grow ftom a cygnet with it's grey fluff into a cob / pen. Fantastic memories.
Hope the old boy / girl is still around. Was about 20 years ago.
https://youtu.be/Zt5qJC1xQ8A
Arnold Cunningham said:
It was more to do with me pondering how you 'sex' a Swan as I was typing...I'd always assumed it was a male then realised that it may not have been a valid assumption as I had no idea what distinguishes a boy swan from a girl swan. So an apt video.
Reading back my post it does sound daft so point taken.
We had an interesting morning today. We were at the in-laws doing a few chores for them and when I looked out of an upstairs window I saw a cygnet in the middle of the lawn. This threw me a little bit as the river level wasn’t overly high and therefore the only way it could have got there would have been through some very thick undergrowth and up an unused slipway. As I’m pondering this I the notice neighbourhood Bengal cat stalking the cygnet and commando crawling it’s way across the lawn towards it. Cue lots of frantic shouting, a mad rush downstairs and Mrs Jerry holding this …
whilst I’m chasing the Bengal off, shouting and clapping (poor thing must have been wondering what the heck was going on as he’d been getting a stroke and complimented on his beautiful coat not more than 10 minutes earlier).
No sign of Mr and Mrs Swan or the remaining cygnets so we pop this one in a box and start a mad search.
Passing canoeists, paddle boarders and neighbours all called in to help search for the family and after a fair old time we are told that they are maybe 100m down river, around a bend such that we cannot see them nor them us. Confirmation of this is received so we cart the box up to where they are, hand it over to the neighbour whose garden they are in and the family are reunited …
There will probably be some who will say we should have let nature take it’s course (or simply drop the cygnet back in the river) but I’m hoping most here will agree that we did the right thing. It was really heart warming to see the cygnet back with it’s family and feels like our good deed (edited) for the day.
whilst I’m chasing the Bengal off, shouting and clapping (poor thing must have been wondering what the heck was going on as he’d been getting a stroke and complimented on his beautiful coat not more than 10 minutes earlier).
No sign of Mr and Mrs Swan or the remaining cygnets so we pop this one in a box and start a mad search.
Passing canoeists, paddle boarders and neighbours all called in to help search for the family and after a fair old time we are told that they are maybe 100m down river, around a bend such that we cannot see them nor them us. Confirmation of this is received so we cart the box up to where they are, hand it over to the neighbour whose garden they are in and the family are reunited …
There will probably be some who will say we should have let nature take it’s course (or simply drop the cygnet back in the river) but I’m hoping most here will agree that we did the right thing. It was really heart warming to see the cygnet back with it’s family and feels like our good deed (edited) for the day.
Edited by JerryEXE on Saturday 21st May 21:27
JerryEXE said:
There will probably be some who will say we should have let nature take it’s course (or simply drop the cygnet back in the river) but I’m hoping most here will agree that we did the right thing. It was really heart warming to see the cygnet back with it’s family and feels like our good dead for the day.
Well I'm not one of them. I think what you did was great 
Good work. I have a Bengal but thankfully he’s a house cat. Buggers. moorx said:
JerryEXE said:
There will probably be some who will say we should have let nature take it’s course (or simply drop the cygnet back in the river) but I’m hoping most here will agree that we did the right thing. It was really heart warming to see the cygnet back with it’s family and feels like our good dead for the day.
Well I'm not one of them. I think what you did was great moorx said:
JerryEXE said:
There will probably be some who will say we should have let nature take it’s course (or simply drop the cygnet back in the river) but I’m hoping most here will agree that we did the right thing. It was really heart warming to see the cygnet back with it’s family and feels like our good dead for the day.
Well I'm not one of them. I think what you did was great I’m not sure “letting nature take its course” means much on our island, who’s natural landscape has been shaped by human history. Even the cat is only here because of humans.
You did a good deed, and hopefully that cygnet will have a long and fulfilled life. Perhaps in a few years he/she (they) will befriend someone working on a boat, leading to a thread on the internet.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff