Majestic swans adding romance to all our rivers
I HAD my nature moment this morning when I spotted four stately cygnets swimming with their beautiful mute swan parents.
This amazing sight was on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and the six swans were swimming among the barges and boats by the riverside pub.
The cygnets were very nearly fully grown and so it was a majestic sight as they sailed by.
Mute swans are our iconic waterbirds, famed for forming that perfect heart with their necks when they meet up face to face.
Swans are the birds of romance in this world of so much bad temper and anger.
And, you know, some people would tar this beautiful bird with an angry image, they say: “They can break your arm with their wings.”
Only if you get too close.
Of course, these huge birds will do some damage if they are after food or defending their chicks.
So the best bet is to keep them at arm’s length if you are feeding them with swan food – not bread.
Or, at least, keep them at wings length, the average swan wingspan is more then two metres.
Yet, seeing them on a lake, gliding along the surface and ducking their heads under the surface to look for titbits.
Mute swans feed on plants, particularly water weed.
The only common swan in most places, it is easily recognised by its all-white body and its reddish-orange bill that has a large black ‘knob’ at the base.
Many birds have decreased in numbers in the past half century, mute swans declined but there has been a resurgence with an increase in the North West.
It is all down to better protection and a ban on the sale of lead fishing weights.
These horrible weights were eaten by the swans killing some and causing horrible deformities in their offspring.
Problems still exist and I have heard horrendous stories about swans using litter, including plastic, to build nests.
Is this what we have come to in this country, litter has become a part of our birds’ lives because we are too lazy to put it into a bin?
Some might say that it’s good they are using plastic in their nest but they are not as warm and inviting as using branches and leaves.
It is not right in anybody’s view.
Coming out of the nest, cygnets are larger than ducks and geese fledglings and soon take on the swan shape.
While more robust than ducklings, they are certainly not ugly.
So let’s continue to appreciate our swans and their youngsters as they happily cruise our canals and lakes.
I can’t imagine finding a major lake without a couple of swans and their young adding to the colour of the landscape.
And, remember, keep your litter to yourselves – in 2019 you would think we would have grown out of the shameful and lazy way to dispose of rubbish.
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