We've have a wonderful array of wildlife on the river in St Nicholas Park, in the centre of Warwick. We are very lucky. One of the loveliest things is seeing the swans each day.
I managed to catch the pair dancing in February...
We all kept an eye on the nest, then the hatchlings, when we strolled round Kingfisher Pools, a two minute walk away from the park...
Then we met the kids properly when they all took to the water...
There were eight to begin with, soon reducing to seven.
They grew up fast...
It was wonderful to watch them mature. As they glided past only a couple of weeks ago I thought how amazing it was that all seven had made it. In the past months, they have all stuck together as a family, even in recent weeks as the cygnets neared adulthood.
But recently, avian flu has been reported locally, and registered by Defra - affecting the water birds in Stratford and now also confirmed at Ryton Pools near Coventry.
It is always upsetting to hear when wildlife succumbs to disease, but it is all the more heart-breaking if it's nearby and especially wildlife that you feel you've built a relationship with.
Devastatingly, during the two weeks, all seven cygnets have been found dead on the river banks, we can only assume taken down by bird flu. One of our little birdwatching team sadly witnessed the last one in distress, turning round and round in circles on the water a few days ago. Only the adults now remain - thankfully they seem to be ok at the moment.
We are all devastated. It's tempting to humanise animals and assume they feel emotions as we do. I wonder if they feel loss, if they are missing their cygnets, if they know they didn't fly away to find new territories, like they should.
Even if they do feel a bit lost at the moment, nature does have a way of recovering and hopefully, before long, this pair will be dancing again.
Hopefully, soon we'll get to see another clutch of babies on the river.
🤞
