The other evening I was crossing Prices St bridge in Bristol when a flock of swans flew over and under it. The noise of their wings was incredible, I instinctively ducked – or is that swanned? They are technically wild animals, but they seem to have become habitual scroungers like pigeons and seagulls.
Bristol has a healthy population of swans, but this is the only nest that is visible. It is a wooden pallette that has become attached to a tree and a pile of rubbish piled up on and around it. every year for the past 2 or 3 years that I know of, there has been a nesting pair here. They produce a clutch of eggs and sit on them, and sit and sit, ant turn them but have yet to produce any chicks. After a few months they eventually give up and the site is taken over by water hens and any others in need of a home. It’s really sad, and the Bristol zoo people try to keep an eye on them but nobody seems to know what is wrong. Possibly they are suffering from pollution, though the return of otters in the nearby river suggests this is not a problem.
Saw a different one today: Three eggs.
i think this pair had 6 or 8 last year. amazing how long they sit on them before they give up.