Swans

[Purple Fairie]

Another pic of our Whooper Swan from the end of Jan when we went up to Boston...

He's still with us, a group of around 20 Whoopers came down to Chapel Hill, but they left again without him!

He sits in the same place every morning so some of you might be able to see him when you come over next week for my party

[Josher]

Happy ending ...

 

Newport’s love battle swans return to canal

 

Tuesday 22nd March 2011, 7:00PM GMT. Shropshire Star

 

Albert, left, and Mildred arrive back at the Newport canal

 

Bailiffs were keeping a close eye today on two swans which were returned to a Shropshire waterway after one of them was injured while fighting with a love rival in the middle of a street. Mildred and Albert were released back on to Newport Canal on Sunday after spending time at Cheshire’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre. Mildred was taken to the centre last month for an operation after hurting her foot.

 

As a result, lonely Albert made a play for another swan on the canal called Sarah. But Sarah’s partner, Louis, took offence and ended up fighting with Albert in the middle of the B5062 into Edgmond on February 25. As a result, Albert injured his foot and was taken to the same wildlife centre to recover. But the pair were returned to their home at the weekend. Ann Hall, who looks after the swans in Newport, said the birds were ecstatic to be home. “I had them in the back of my car bringing them to Newport and it was a surreal experience,” she said. “Mildred didn’t put her head down at all for the journey and Albert just grunted. But when we came into Newport his head came up and they were really pleased. “Mildred got out first and she went straight into the water and Albert wanted to get out quickly too. “It was a very nice end to what could have been a tragic story.”

 

 

 

Alan Evans, Newport’s water bailiff, who keeps a close eye on the canal and the swans, said: “They will begin to start selecting where their nests will go this year and hopefully they will start breeding. “Albert and Mildred flew down to me yesterday so they are certainly getting better. “But all of this has thrown them a bit, being at the rescue centre, but they are doing fine. They are quite pleased to see us now. They are settling down and hopefully everything will turn out alright for them.” He added that the birds were now trying to get back to normality. “They are a little but wary now because of the disruption and they have moved to another end of the canal,” he said.

 

Mr Evans praised the work of staff at Stapeley for returning the birds in such a good condition. On the public’s reaction to the swans’ return, Mr Evans added: “Everybody has been asking us where the swans are and when they would be coming back. The swans are a real attraction to the canal.”

[Nine of Hearts]

I've resisted for so long, but everytime I see this thread I think of...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Z4DATrP20

 

Much better to my mind than big white grumpy ducks. But I imagine I'm alone in that...

[Josher]

Happy ending ...

Spoke too soon ...

 

Newport’s love fight swan died of heart failure Friday 8th April 2011, 7:59PM BST. Star

 

A Shropshire swan, who shot to fame after a street brawl with a love rival, died of heart failure, vets revealed today. Albert the swan died on March 29 just weeks after the bust-up with fellow swan Louis on the B5062 into Edgmond, near Newport. Alan Evans, Newport’s water bailiff, said an autopsy carried out by vets at Cheshire’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre showed Albert died a natural death. The duel between Albert and Louis is understood to have been a misunderstanding between the birds. Louis caught Albert cosying up to Sarah on Cheney Hill island in Newport after confusing her with his partner Mildred, who had been taken to Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre for treatment to her foot. Shocked drivers called the police who had to forcibly separate the pair as feathers flew across the road.

 

Mr Evans said: “Albert lived a long and full life, but the excitement of the last few months took there toll. “After the winter, the fight and reunion with Mildred, it was probably a bit too much for him to take.” In another twist he revealed Mildred had been ousted from her home by a new pair of swans yesterday. He said Mildred may have fled to find another partner or even returned to the place where she and Albert first met, but she was nowhere to be found on the canal.

[Josher]

ANIMAL welfare volunteers in Middlewich have hit another stumbling block in their long campaign to protect swans in the Trent and Mersey Canal. Funds were secured for a 400m fence and hedge to stop swans entering Booth Lane and endangering motorists more than five months ago. But British Waterways will not release its grant of £2,500 to the Swan Support Group until there are assurances about the fence’s long term maintenance. The organisation wants Middlewich Town Council to underwrite the agreement. This would mean the town’s Council Tax payers would foot the bill to cut the hedge and deal with any vandalism if the Swan Support Group folded.

Success!

 

Victory after three years for Middlewich swan campaigners 11:15am Wednesday 15th June 2011 Middlewich Guardian

 

 

A THREE year campaign has finally ended in victory for animal lovers in Middlewich. The Swan Support Group has been fighting for a permanent fence along the Trent and Mersey Canal in Booth Lane since 2008. It is now being built after funds were unlocked by British Waterways and an agreement was reached with the town council and Middlewich Community Pride.

 

The Swan Support Group formed in 2008 after five swans were killed and another three were injured in three months. But funds promised by Cheshire East Council for the fence were withdrawn due to cash shortages in October 2009. British Waterways also supported the project but there were long delays as bosses insisted that the Swan Support Group should join the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. There were also concerns about the fence’s long term maintenance and opposition from nearby residents. Lena Porter, of the Swan Support Group, said: “My hair’s gone a lot more grey since this started. It’s been stressful but joyful now. “It was literally red tape after red tape. You’d think it was quite simple to put up a fence but obviously not. It was hard work and a bit annoying but there’s no point screaming and shouting.”

 

British Waterways released £2,500 for the project after the town council and Middlewich Community Pride agreed to step in to provide maintenance if the Swan Support Group folded. Lena, who lives off Booth Lane, reserved special thanks for contractor Willis’s of Sandbach who are paying for part of the job out of their own pocket. The post and wire fence is 400m and has three gates. Its erection will be a relief for many Booth Lane residents who considered the temporary orange fencing to be an eyesore and was often vandalised.

 

David Baldacchino, waterway manager for British Waterways, said: “We’ve invested £2,500 for construction of the new fence which we hope will prevent the swans from entering the road and in doing so help reduce the risk of road accidents. The fence was installed after we were able to conclude an agreement with Middlewich Town Council and a local volunteer group about the long term maintenance of the fence.”

[Québec]

We've currently got Swan Wars in our marina, to the point where some of the boaters have now organised a swan patrol to keep the battling males apart.

We've had the same breeding pair for a few years, who tend to nest and dwell at one end of the marina. They've currently got six cygnets. Then another pair arrived, and also produced six cygnets, at the other end of marina. The male of the new arrivals seems to be particularly aggressive, and keeps picking on the 'resident' male who appears to be far more into making love than war.

 

The fights are very nasty....hence the patrol.

 

Swans are really rather unpleasant. If they were human they'd probably appear on one of those 'Neighbours from Hell' programmes.

[Doorman]

Swans are really rather unpleasant. If they were human they'd probably appear on one of those 'Neighbours from Hell' programmes.

 

I'm inclined to agree.

 

They're amazing to watch in flight but can be aggressive once back on the water. Where we moor, they stamp their authority over the other marina wildlife and in particular, the geese and their goslings.

 

Mike

Edited June 16, 2011 by Doorman

[Caprifool]

I wonder why carcases always get blamed on foreigners. Locals get hungry too. Had a few cases of lambs killed in the fields around here. The rear legs and chops where missing and the "bloody foreigners" where blamed. Turned out to be local kids having BBQ's.

[Yellowback]

I wonder why carcases always get blamed on foreigners. Locals get hungry too. Had a few cases of lambs killed in the fields around here. The rear legs and chops where missing and the "bloody foreigners" where blamed. Turned out to be local kids having BBQ's.

 

 

Much easier to blame "foreigners", be they from another country, culture or lifestyle, than accept that your own kind are turning on you in any way!

[blackrose]

I took this picture on the GU near Tring a couple of years ago. That was the first time I'd seen a cygnet taking a free ride, but I saw it again the other day on the Thames.

 

[Doorman]

I took this picture on the GU near Tring a couple of years ago. That was the first time I'd seen a cygnet taking a free ride, but I saw it again the other day on the Thames.

 

 

Great picture!

[bizzard]

Once the cygnets are old enough to fend for themselves the parents tell them that it's time they left the nest. You can sometimes see the cygnets trying to hang around at the beginning of the new season and getting short shrift from the parents, who have got other things on their mind.

 

I sometimes often think that we ought to have something like this in the human world.

Cheers

Cath

I think we already have! As swans make a habit of drowning tiny duck chicks,certain elements of the human race do similar killing. My opinion of swans is nasty serial bullies and murderers.

I know its nature and thats what they do because of the food supply chain,they want it all for themselves.

I've noticed here that every spring the ducks chicks dwindle away from perhaps 9 or 10 to 2 or 3 by the time they've grown up enough not to be easy prey, but this year a brood of 9 duck chicks have survived ''Been no swans around here this springtime.I know Pike often take th chicks and they die from other health reasons.

But so i think i've proved my point at last.No swans,most duck chicks survive. The swans keep well away from Moorhens though,incredible little creatures for holding their own. Doom to all swans.

Regards bizzard.

[bizzard]

I think we already have! As swans make a habit of drowning tiny duck chicks,certain elements of the human race do similar killing. My opinion of swans is nasty serial bullies and murderers.

I know its nature and thats what they do because of the food supply chain,they want it all for themselves.

I've noticed here that every spring the ducks chicks dwindle away from perhaps 9 or 10 to 2 or 3 by the time they've grown up enough not to be easy prey, but this year a brood of 9 duck chicks have survived ''Been no swans around here this springtime.I know Pike often take th chicks and they die from other health reasons.

But so i think i've proved my point at last.No swans,most duck chicks survive. The swans keep well away from Moorhens though,incredible little creatures for holding their own. Doom to all swans.

Regards bizzard.

Swans also avoid Canada Geese,because they're nearly as big as themselves i expect(cowards too}.

Man is similar but far worse as many kill creatures smaller than themselves purely for sport,including most members of royalty.Even breeding certain creatures so as to go and kill em.ie Partridge Pheasant and so on.

The killing fields are mainly in Scotland i believe.I personally would find it a great hoot to let a few Bengal Tigers free up there,and be a fly on the wall when one springs out from behind a bush and confronts the trigger happy killers

I don't think they'd be doing much more shooting even if they survived,they'd scarper with filled boots,snap their gun in two on a boulder and hopefully clear off home and join the world wildlife club or simply read a nice book.

Sorry about the ranting and off topic subject.

bizzard.

[sebrof]

I wonder why carcases always get blamed on foreigners. Locals get hungry too. Had a few cases of lambs killed in the fields around here. The rear legs and chops where missing and the "bloody foreigners" where blamed. Turned out to be local kids having BBQ's.

 

Local Polish kids, probably.

 

[sebrof]

Swans also avoid Canada Geese,because they're nearly as big as themselves i expect(cowards too}.

Man is similar but far worse as many kill creatures smaller than themselves purely for sport,including most members of royalty.

bizzard.

 

I've shot a few things, but never tried Royalty. Bit unsporting, if you ask me. They can't fly, and most specimens can't run very fast either.

 

Mind you, I did hear that Prince Charles got mistaken for an elephant once. Damn close thing. It was his ears, of course.

 

People still do shoot big game in Africa, including elephant. I don't understand why it is OK to shoot larger animals than yourself, but not smaller ones.

 

Care to explain?

[bizzard]

I've shot a few things, but never tried Royalty. Bit unsporting, if you ask me. They can't fly, and most specimens can't run very fast either.

 

Mind you, I did hear that Prince Charles got mistaken for an elephant once. Damn close thing. It was his ears, of course.

 

People still do shoot big game in Africa, including elephant. I don't understand why it is OK to shoot larger animals than yourself, but not smaller ones.

 

Care to explain?

I don't think they're allowed to, legally. And i believe the legal ones are professional hunters,to shoot or snare certain wild animals that have become maneaters or marauders and eating all the native food crops mainly elephant in that category i think.And they have much more, powerful rifles .504 calibre than shot guns, they always have a native gun bearer with them too to reload their second rifle when they're hard pressed,the cow elephant who's in charge of a herd will try to stampede the herd towards their threat,so i've read.bizzard.

[sebrof]

Google "elephant hunting africa".

 

Anything is legal if a country says it is, and several countries permit elephant hunting.

 

Generally, elephant hunters are after beasts with good tusks, which tend to be male and solitary, not females in herds.

 

There are several fascinating books on (and sometimes by) white hunters in East Africa. John Hunter (whom I met a couple of times) and Karamoja Bell are two hunters whose books I would recommend. Bell was a superb shot, even by local standards, and was reputed to shoot duck on the wing with an old .22 rifle.

 

Lest anybody should think otherwise, I am not an advocate of sport hunting, but things were different then, and lives more colourful.

[Purple Fairie]

The latest visitor to 'our' little stretch of water....

This egyptian goose came to the side hatch with the ducks for their breakfast, the last time we saw any was on the Trent so don't know how it's ended up here on it's own

[Guest wanted]

The latest visitor to 'our' little stretch of water....

This egyptian goose came to the side hatch with the ducks for their breakfast, the last time we saw any was on the Trent so don't know how it's ended up here on it's own

 

 

They are my favorite, we often have a couple that visit the wear near us. Today as I walked in from work I saw two Swans with two Cygnets, a Heron, a nesting Coot and an impressive display from a Tern. We are also helping out with the Bat study next week. Tis a grand life eh?.

Edited July 13, 2011 by wanted

[Phil Ambrose]

I'm convinced that Jack Russels are short sighted creatures. They always seem to pick on larger breed

dogs for a fight!

 

I would agree with that statement, however they really winge when they take on my dog and get a good trouncing.

 

Phil

[Doorman]

I would agree with that statement, however they really winge when they take on MY DOG and get a good trouncing.

 

Phil

 

 

Surely not, Phil?

Edited July 16, 2011 by Doorman

[Phil Ambrose]

 

 

Surely not, Phil?

 

Now that is one cute dog. M.O.H. has always wanted a "Handbag Dog" but hey I would be the one to have to take it out and though I'm not overly macho I would have to draw the line at that.

 

Phil

 

Oh and I disagree with the post about Swans killing all the Ducklings, yes they will on occasion do so but Ducks are notorious for loseing their brood. I work at a Nursing Home which had a large lake in the grounds with a few ducks and no Swans. One Duck hatched 17 ducklings but within a week these had dwindled down to 1, no Pike in the lake but in the grounds there were Otters,Stoats, Weasles and Herons plus Marsh Harriers not to mention Kestrels.

The fact is Ducklings have many , many predators

 

Phil