A swan family was on the Mill Stream yesterday
with six cygnets.
The day before yesterday there were another four cygnets, with parents nearby, on the St Helen’s slipway.
None of them had been ringed by the swan uppers at the start of the school holidays. My blog report about a decline in swan numbers, based on Swan Upping catches, could have got it wrong.
Perhaps the swans had heard the Uppers were coming and hid; or perhaps they read the report and decided to confound the doomsayers.
Nice to see them.
Perhaps they emerged from the portal outside the Old Gaol?
Keeping with the river theme and my previous posts re illegal fishing by our firings guests I’ve just been talking with my neighbour who last evening pulled a good sized chub from the river here, only thing wrong was all that was left was its head and tail! They’d filleted it on their boat and disgarded the remains overboard !
I think we saw this family sitting in one of the gardens backing on to that tributary behind culham lock on monday. If thats where they live, maybe the swan uppers didnt head up there
Pretty sure I saw an eastern europeon family trying to catch one for their dinner.