The swan upping boats arrived in Abingdon at around 5pm this afternoon after 5 days on the River Thames.

This annual census of the swans has seen a decline in numbers in recent years. In 2016 I heard that 74 cygnets were counted, that compares with 83 cygnets in 2015 and 120 in 2014.

I have not seen the pair of swans with cygnets that were on the mill stream and near the lock earlier in the year. I do not know what happened to them.

Thanks to Elizabeth for these pictures. I got there too late, because of work, and the excitement was over and the Royal toast had been made.

Elizabeth is putting on an exhibition on 1950s Abingdon over the week of Heritage Open Day in Abingdon (60 years since the Queen visited to re-open the museum). So if anybody has any pictures from that era please get in touch. Email backstreet60@gmail.com and I will pass on your details.

The brown rat is nocturnal and is a good swimmer, and so rats are never that far away when you are by the riverside. Rattus Norvegicus can often be seen in the Margaret Brown Gardens at the end of the day, and does not appear that concerned when people are about.

The one in this short video does take fright at the sound of a motor bike. Like pigeons they are a very successful urban species.

These adult swans, seen on the Mill Stream in Abingdon, have eight new cygnets. Last years juveniles did stay during the winter, but as time went on the adult male could be seen chasing them away, getting increasingly aggressive if they did not take the hint.