There was heavy rain a week ago that lasted through Monday.

But the plants in St Ethelwolds garden have strong stems and those in the yellow / orange border have survived and are standing upright.

Leaves are beginning to fall.

Coming into its own are the late-season flowers, like asters or Michaelmas daisies.

The apples have all been picked and more have been brought from elsewhere as the Abingdon Carbon Cutters pressed apple juice in the St Ethelwolds Garden during the last three days of September.

At approximately 4:00 pm today, I saw an adult swan with five cygnets. The adult had blood on its back.

Concerned about the swan’s welfare, I searched for a swan rescue organization and landed on swansupport.org.uk and they answered immediately. Upon mentioning my location in Abingdon, the call handler said they were already aware of the injured swan and rescuers would soon be there.

Later, I saw the five cygnets alone, without the adult swan. The injured adult was probably receiving treatment, and the cygnets were fending for themselves for the time being. Some people speculated a dog attack might be the cause of the injury but we didn’t know.

Tim has observed a decline in the male duck population at the bridge by the open-air pool. He has observed this over the past few weeks. Among all the ducks he cannot see a single duck with full male plumage.

He has also observed that duck feeding is less frenzied than a few weeks ago.

He has observed that all the mature ducks have female plumage and a few of the juveniles seem to be growing male plumage but no mature males are visible.

Tim suggested some explanations for this decline in the male duck population:

Habitat Loss: Changes in the surrounding environment might have driven male ducks to other places.
Disease: A disease outbreak specific to male ducks.
Hormonal Factors: Pollutants in the water could be affecting the hormonal balance of ducks, leading to males becoming female.
Leisure: Male ducks have migrated to a more exciting location now the breeding season is over.

Somebody out there may be able to help.