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.
Well done backstreeter for helping, even though some other kind soul had the same idea.
Another concern is the whereabouts of its mate as swan pairs stay together for life. A few days ago I was admiring how sturdy the current brood were looking.
Oh dear, that looks like a lot of blood. I hope the cygnets will manage alone? They can feed themselves, of course, but they’ll be confused and stressed without their parent for guidance… and whatever happened to the adult swan, could happen to them. Let’s all hope the adult is returned swiftly and that we all keep our eyes on the cygnets. Very well backstreets for noticing/posting this.