Cygnets multiplied overnight by 2 O_o

[Amoeba]

Um... this is strange.

So there's the usual swans (and their old pal goose), they had 8 cygnets at the start of the year, but one went missing, presumably dead. These things happen. The remaining 7 got a bit bigger.

A few days ago I was passing the swans and something literally didn't add up. Suddenly there were 14 cygnets. There were their own cygnets and some other swan's brood, since 7 of them looked slightly older than the other 7 with the little pin feathers coming in at the ends of the wings and tail.

So... do swans adopt other swan's offspring?

Also, thought I'd keep it in one thread, something else strange has started happening. Lately I've been getting swooped a lot by LBB gulls. I've noticed other people have too. They never actually come in to contact but they get pretty close (few inches sometimes) to your head. Breeding maybe? But where could possibly be suitable for them to breed around here? It's the middle of the suburbs!

[Fieldfare95]

Not sure about the swans, but I think that gulls sometimes nest on the tops of buildings.

[bobbarber]

Hello Amoeba, I don`t know if swans adopt other cygnets, but mallards and other ducks do. I have often seen a pair of mallards with a flotilla of ducklings of different sizes that would far out number a normal clutch.
The Lesser Black-backed will often nest inland (on moors and on islands in lakes) do you have anything like that within flying distance...Bob

[Amoeba]

Originally Posted by bobbarber

Hello Amoeba, I don`t know if swans adopt other cygnets, but mallards and other ducks do. I have often seen a pair of mallards with a flotilla of ducklings of different sizes that would far out number a normal clutch.
The Lesser Black-backed will often nest inland (on moors and on islands in lakes) do you have anything like that within flying distance...Bob

Hm... well, it's probably the most likely situation. I know there was another swan pair further down the canal, I don't know if something maybe happened to them or if the cygnets just wandered off (though I thought it would be highly unlikely for such watchful parents to lose all of their 7 cygnets...)

No, we really don't have anything like that here, especially where they were swooping. It's all pretty developed around here, with a scheme full of flats and roads and in this case a shopping mall and a carnival (I can't wait for that carnival to leave it's so blooming loud when I'm trying to sleep at night). If Fieldfare95 is right, they could be using the tops of the vents on the roofs of the flats (the vents have this little flat roof bit at the top). I've seen them sitting there a lot.

Thanks for your replies. I may not have a definite answer but it makes a little more sense.