Had a call from Dewi, a resident at Rhoose Point this morning. A swan had been sitting in the middle of the fairway for a day or so, and apart from accepting bread, was not moving about. As there was a concern about the cause of death of a swan that was thought to have been the male (Cob) of the family group living on the pond, I went to have a look.
The swan was where it had been reported to be, and it didn’t try and move away as I walked past it – not usual behaviour! As I guessed that this swan wasn’t going anywhere (and as it actually behaving normally would have been good), I went to have a look at the swans on the lake.
It had been reported that the cob had disappeared a week or so ago, possibly visiting Barry Old Harbour and Barry Dock. A sick cob was removed from the Knap Lake in Barry a few days ago, but died during the journey to Shepperton Swan Sanctuary, and this was thought to have been the male of this family. So it was a bit surprising to discover TWO adult swans with the four remaining cygnets.
Having taken a few photographs, I turned my attention to the original swan. Again, it let me approach far too closely, so I decided that Peter and Ellen should be the ones to decide it’s immediate future. A simple hand between the wings was enough to pin it to the ground, and although it struggled slightly, it didn’t put up the sort of struggle that a healthy swan would.
A little later the swan had it’s face in a bowl of food at Ellen’s holding pen in Newport. A phone call from Peter later indicated that they weren’t happy with the swan, and it was a likely candidate for Shepperton tomorrow.