1/. Spike Milligan once wrote:
“Down the stream the swans all glide;
It's quite the cheapest way to ride.
Their legs get wet,
Their tummies wetter:
I think after all
The bus is better”
These two cygnets riding on their mothers’ back stay warm & dry.
2/. The two cygnets riding on their mother’s back (‘Uber Swan’ 😂) were part of a ‘litter’ of nine that hatched in May
Mute swans - the white swans most commonly seen in the UK - will hatch up to 10 eggs but not all cygnets will survive to adulthood.
3/. This video shows the same swan family on Hampstead Heath in June
Only 6 cygnets had survived their first six weeks
They may have been lost to crows, herons, magpies, gulls, foxes etc
One fishermen told me that he’d seen one of them “taken by a pike”
4/. Today, there are only four cygnets left
It’s nature’s way I suppose, although last month one was killed by a dog!
Soon parental ties will be cut & their parents will chase them away, sometimes quite aggressively
They will join another flock until they mature (4 years old).
5/. It’s not uncommon for swans to lose all their cygnets to predators, nor is it uncommon for most of them to survive
Most heartbreaking is the probability that the two riding on their mother’s back - the smallest two - are among the 5 that didn’t survive
But we celebrate them
There is a myth that has floated around since the ancient Greeks, that the Mute Swan is completely silent throughout its lifetime, only to sing one glorious & mellifluous "Swan Song" just before it dies.
(Photo: Feeding swans in Cracow, by Marcin Ryczek marcinryczek.com)
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