Sleepy Time Interlude

 It's sleepy time at the pond:

But what is this?

It's a duck race...

Looking for an exit...

Disaster averted

Cygnets

Due to our not being out and about we missed this year's big event on our local pond.  These cygnets must be a week old.  Nine is an impressive clutch!

Just to give an idea of context here's a wider view.

Swans on the Pond

These chirpy chaps hatched yesterday and were out on the pond today.  A brood of eight. Well done mum.

A New Brood

Cygnets out on the water. 2 or 3 days old.

Our local pond supports one breeding pair per year.  Last year several eggs failed to hatch.  This year all nine hatched.

Swanning Around

There are some new kids on the block - well cygnets really:

This picture was taken today and the following was taken on Monday at the nest site at the end of the pond:

Other ponds in Edinburgh and the canal seem to accomodate lots of swans but our pond seems to support a single breeding pair each year. Later in the year the adults drive off the youngsters.  There is a lot of interest locally and someone has taken it upon themselves to post updates on the pond railings for the benefit of all.

It is always exciting to see how many will be in the brood and this year's count is 4. Dad has been very attentive in the run up to the hatching and subsequently

Hopefully there won't be a repeat of the calamitous events 3 years ago when the RSSPCA  had to step in to rescue the brood and their mother when the dad disappeared. Mr Fox has been cited but the case is not proven.

White Swan

Craiglockhart Pond Cygnets

Last Sunday the new pair at Craiglockhart Pond hatched 7 cygnets. 

Last year we lost the pair that had been on the pond for 22 years.  First the male disappeared then the SSPCA removed the rest of the brood,  but the female still died. So the pair on the pond are new.  Happily they have proved successful.

Judging from their behaviour the new parents have got the hang parenthood. Out of the seven offspring six are centre stage here.  

It would be nice if they all survived. We will be keeping an eye on them.

Summer's Late Arrival

It's become a tradition with us to monitor the brood of the single pair of swans on our local pond.  They usually arrive in May but hung on until June this year.  Six is the same number as last year, when they all survived.  Unusually two of last years brood are still hanging around, although they are now fended off by their parents.

Today we had our first significant rain for a couple of weeks. It's been sunny on some days in Edinburgh too - other days the sea influence has allowed the sun through by 4 in the afternoon. So whatever comes we got some summer in 2013!  The sweetcorn are planted out, so I'm ready.