The Black Swan @ Abingdon

No, not a new pub, but a genuine black swan
The Black Swan
I first saw him on December 5th  in South Abingdon on the gravel pit lake nearest to the Marina and he is still there and very much at home with the mute swans (of which there are 2 large families) and a wide variety of other water birds.
The Black Swan

(Many thanks to Elizabeth for the report.)

7 thoughts on “The Black Swan @ Abingdon

  1. Captainkaos2

    Ditto ppjs. The black swan is a real treat, but since moving back to South Abingdon I’ve been reminded just how much wildlife we have here? Last summer a pair of European Cranes flew over, this year I’ve so far spotted a Cetti’s warbler, shrike, little Egret and barnacle geese, further down stream there are six Egyption geese. Most evenings a pair of Barn Owls can be seen quartering the fields between Wilsham and Culham rd and on the ground a beautiful Reynard gives much pleasure to us,

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  2. Janet

    When I moved into South Abingdon we used to see many hedgehogs. Now they have all gone. Could it be the spread of housing estates? Apparently hedgehog numbers are decreasing.

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  3. Richard

    @Janet
    There are still occasional hedgehogs to be found in South Abingdon, but you’re right, they do seem to be on a decline.
    The use of slug pellets doesn’t help (shame on anyone who still uses them) as well as the habitat fragmentation caused by our obsession with big fences.
    Perhaps those of us in South Abingdon should try to join a gardens together (http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/link-your-garden.html) to form a large hedgehog friendly habitat?

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  4. Captainkaos2

    Not quite a first John, while cycling through Boxhill Woods in September 2014 en route to collect our grand daughter from Saint Nicks my wife and myself watched in amazement at a pair of Egrets walking quite nonchalantly along the river Stert,

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