Exclusive Swan Photo Offer

Help maintain the Swans and Ducks, Donate £6 to Simply Superb Swans and receive an exclusive A4 mounted photo of the River Nairn Swans/Cygnets.
Ideal for relatives abroad, or as a Christmas gift for 2012.
Postage is included for the UK.
Donors within Europe should add £1.50 for postage, and £2.50 for rest of the world.

Safe Paypal Details on my Main homepage.
http://simplysuperbswans.blogspot.com/

All Profits will be used for the maintenance of the Swans Island and the wellbeing of the Swans and Ducks.

Much has happened over the past couple of years, and i was gutted when the previous Cob died . I had lost heart with the blog but now feel able to continue. After a long absence i intend to revive my postings soon.

Also New Blog page can be viewed at: http://www.simplysuperbswans.blogspot.com/

In memory of the original Cob, I have adopted his photo as my logo.





It may seem strange to some people but I do feel a bond between myself and the wildlife I care for.

The death of the previous Cob touched me so much, I felt compelled to do something to avoid a repeat of the disaster that had struck our swans.


I felt the only way to avoid a repeat was to create an island nesting site on their home territory, as this would be easier for them to defend.


In the summer of 2007 I completed the construction of a new island nest site for the surviving Pen.

I had hoped she would find a new partner and use the island for future rearing, alas she moved away in october of that year and I only saw her once after that.

A new pair of Swans moved into the river in the autumn, and after checking my photographic records of all the swans I had observed in the river, I realised that this pair had been trying to move in since 2005.

The island seemed an instant hit and they took to it readily, in february of 2008 they mated and started to build a nest. I hoped that I had made the site high enough to avoid the highest spring tides. The pen was laying and I watched with trepidation as the high March spring tide rose ever higher.


On the 10th march 2008, the country experienced the deepest low pressure in 20 years, coinciding with the highest tide of the year and an easterly wind resulting in the nest being flooded for about an hour.













When the tide receded I checked the nest and provided some straw in case the following tide would be just as high.


The cob stood guard over the 6 eggs that had already been laid and I hoped they would survive.


I knew the pen was still laying for she had not yet started to sit permanently on the nest to incubate the eggs. Time would tell what the flooding had done.


On the 19th april 2008 the earliest Cygnets were hatched in the UK !

The Saga continues over on my new blog page.

Awwwwwsome !The Aww factor ! This spring has seen some truly weird weather, with heavy snow in March and April our resident Swans headed off to the nesting site on 23 rd february only to be driven back to the tidal estuary on the 3rd march due to ice and blizzards !
I fed them twice a day until the 17th march when they disappeared back to the nesting site.
During their absence a young pair of Swans tried to set up home on the river, and the Pen laid 2 eggs about 3 feet below the tide level. The next tide came in and promptly washed the nest away leaving the eggs under 3 feet of water.
Was sad to see the Pen and Cob unable to do anything about it.
Undettered, the Pen moved further up the river to a small island and tried again laying at least 4 eggs, she sat on them for over 2 weeks until tragedy in the form of vandalism by youths or perhaps attacked by someone or thing, she abandoned the nest.
During this time several broods of ducks had hatched, to the offspring of the domestic ducks that had interbred with the wild mallards last year. The results were just aww inspiring, in particular was a little bright yellow throwback that was just gorgeous. I have posted some pics of these, but sadly have to report that several ducklings have since been killed by predators, including the yellow one by a crow !It quite upset me, since i knew that another few days and it would have been big enough to have survived.
It is now the 29 th may, and feels like january, damn cold!
However it is not all bad news, since 3 days ago our resident Swans returned with 5 Cygnets ! Awwww....and i can tell you they are gorgeous!
I went down to the waterside and gave the parents a good feed of wholemeal bread. I think they were almost as glad to see me as i was them..they certainly hadn't forgotten me, and walked right up to my feet with the Cygnets..a priviledge indeed !
The last few days have for me been Awwwsome...enjoy !

Superb Swans
This is the one Swan family...taken from May to october 2005








First Flight
SIMPLY SUPERB SWANS











Simply Superb Swans