Cygnets

[petermcgain]

Just had a great time canoeing on the River Wye between Glasbury and Hereford - plenty of kingfishers, cormorants, herons, etc, but the one thing we really noticed was we only saw one cygnet. There were plenty of pairs of adult swans and we wondered if it was the recent floods that killed a lot of the cygnets. I've known of goslings not surviving rough weather, is that what might have happened to the cygnets?

[Spoonbill]

Possibly. There are some cygnet Mute Swans in my local park. They used to be seven, but now the number has dropped to four. None of them even survived last year. I think some might be killed due the teenagers. They tend to want to 'touch' the cygnets, though they could be spreading deseases to the cygnets at the same time. Normally, the parent Mute Swans will hiss at the teenagers, but this has no effect. The duckling, baby Coots and baby Morhens are normally eaten by the Grey Herons, but the cygnets are too big to be eaten by the Grey Heron. And the only birds of prey I get around here are Kestrels and Sparrowhawks.

[wellies101]

We had a pair of mute swans have 6 eggs this year, 4 hatched and only one has "fledged" as it were. Our guess is pike in the lake that have taken the cygnets while very young.

Other possibities are foxes in the night, I've heard sometimes foxes work in pairs and one distracts the adults while another goes in and gets the prey.

While the cygnets were very young (less than a week old) there was a grey heron hanging around every evening around the cygnets and, although I never saw it happen, I wouldn't rule out a grey heron totally.

[paulchandler6]

I have been aware that young of waterfowl (cygnets, ducklings etc) can get waterlogged and chilled in heavy rain and cool weather and subsequently die. As they have not fully aquired their waterproofing qualities on their plumage. Maybe thats one of the reasons. Have noted a decline here in cygnets etc. Cheers

[Dogghound]

I honestly carnt remember even seeing a swan this year,

[wellies101]

good point paul, our common terns and black headed gulls have lost at least 12+ chicks between them on our rafts this year due to poor weather conditions.