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Lovely to see that the swans are nesting in their usual place locally.
Yesterday, one was sitting on the nest, the other swimming not too far away.

I don't know what stage they are at with eggs, so I will have to include that path in some of my walks again.
Last year they raised 4 fine cygnets.

Hatching day !

Two cygnets hatched today and I caught sight of another egg with a small peck hole in it and due to hatch.
There were 8 eggs in the nest yesterday, so hopefully some more will hatch before tomorrow.

How lovely to see them newly hatched Gwyn. I hope all the hatchlings survive. Yesterday I saw a dead hatchling on our garden. It wasn’t close enough to any nests to have fallen out or been rejected by the parents so I can only guess that a bird such as a magpie took it from the nest and dropped it as it flew away. Such a shame :-(

Pterodactyl - I haven't spotted any lately!

Lovely to see the cygnets Gwyn, Have any more hatched yet. I hope the parents can keep them safe.

5 cygnets in the nest now and they seem to be doing well.
Another youngster hatched, but did not survive. I don't know if it got too cold? There was one which would keep coming out from underneath it's mother, even when there was a biting wind.
The female swan stayed sitting on the other 2 eggs for several more days, but they didn't hatch.
Yesterday, when I walked to see them early afternoon, it was was 'tidy up your feathers' time. The adults and all the babies were sitting in the nest area preening and fluffing their feathers. The babies looked so funny, as if they knew instinctively what to do and were lifting their wings, just like the adults, even though the wings are not much bigger than an inch or so.

I am sure they are lovely to watch Gwyn On our local TV last night there were the two swans who live in Pitville Park in Cheltenham, they have 7 cygnets and the local people have a 'swan group' who monitor them day and night on a rosta to protect them as much as they can. The male swan a couple or three years ago was injured in his eye by a thug, he was in the animal hospital for quite a long time and his mate waited for him, it was lovely when they took him back to their lake to see the reunion. I have forgotten his name at the moment but he is well known here.

The adult swans have been taking the young ones to swim at quite some distance from their nest ,so a friend tells me ,so I hadn't seen them for a while, but they were back near the nest site this morning and being photographed yet again, by passing walkers.
There are 4 cygnets there now and they seem to be doing well. All have developed white downy covering on their breast plumage and all about the same size, so I hope these 4 survive.
The adults reared 4 fine young swans last year.

Let us hope they stay safe Gwyn. I am sure they are lovely to watch, they are always such good parents.

They ARE good parents, Ann.

I'm surprised that they choose to nest each year on the bank so close to a footpath. They are just about 2 feet away. Someone years ago erected a makeshift light fence, just to form some sort of barrier between nest and path and the adult swans don't seem to be at all perturbed by people or even dogs being close by, but one day when I was nearby, a lady walker stopped to take a photo and her sunglasses fell off. As she bent down to pick them up, she was obviously doing something out of normal and one of the swans gave a warning hiss.
We can be close..... but on their terms.

Trouble is If they feel threatened there is no time to think, they can move very fast.bee found that visiting Abbotsbury swannery.nand also at Bowness on Windermere. They can be calm one minute but really aggressive if they are demanding food or protecting young or eggs

well. my birds have flown!!! and I missed 'em
Great Tits.


this year I had two cameras, one inside and the other outside the box..
they raised 6 out of 7 eggs

yesterday, AM, I noticed that the feeding pattern had changed, they were feeding through the access hole, instead of going inside..
and in the afternoon the box was empty.....bon voyage..

What a shame you didn’t see the going of them Bob :-(. Maybe next year.

Didn’t the cameras catch them going Bob? Sneaky weren’t they.

While I was away my friend who was looking afte the house, took a photo of a baby bird in the garden. I am sure it was a coal tit.

they aren't recording cameras Ann, just watching...





.I see that the Salisbury peregrines have flown...now waiting for the nottingham trent one to go....solitary survivor of four eggs...

https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/peregrine-cam




the bird has now flown!!

Hi Ann and Everyone :-)
I saw a funny sight yesterday.
I put some wholemeal bread on top of the shed for the birds cos I had too much and I hate waste!

Shortly afterwards there was a large seagull on the shed. I had wanted the sparrows or the blackbirds who are nesting in my hedge to have the bread.

Next thing you know some sparrows flew out of the hedge and dive bombed the seagull and sent it packing :-0 :-D A Jackdaw came next and they saw him off too! :-D

Good for the little birds standing up for themselves. I suppose gulls and jackdaws have to eat too but I don’t suppose they go short.

Our garden was full of bees today which is good to see but I haven’t seen many butterflies this year.

A couple of days ago I had avRed Admiral in the garden And I have also had a small Blue other than that not even cabbage whites so far

I was really pleased today to see a young goldfinch on one of the garden feeders. In fact I had to look it up to make sure it was a goldfinch as it hadn’t yet got its red face and its wing colours were still quite subdued. I think it’s likely that the pair that are regular visitors to the garden have nested nearby and successfully raised at least one chick.

I’m still not seeing many butterflies though there have been a few cabbage whites and yesterday and today I saw a meadow brown in the garden. I know they are very common but we don’t often see them in our garden.