A sad story. Having raised a batch of cygnets to this size the parent birds made a bad decision yesterday and attempted to move the brood from a swamp where they hatched to the river - a distance of at least 2 - 3 miles across an open paddock, through the middle of town, across an abandoned farm overgrown with waist high grass and weeds down on to the river flat to eventually reach their goal. Not a journey that would be easy for a tiny cygnet. The convoy made it across the school grounds, through the town and over the highway before disappearing into the long grass. About half an hour later this exhausted little fellow who had obviously fallen behind arrived at my friend's house and collapsed on her door step. She brought him to me. Yesterday afternoon I watched two swans circling over the town calling and calling as if searching for lost loved ones. I walked for two hours this morning following their flight path, trying to locate the family but to no avail. So it looks as if I'm to become a foster Mum to a baby swan. The poor little mite is not happy but I'm hoping he'll settle down and I can nurse him along until he's old enough to be released back into the wild.
What a sad story Margaret & such a long way to expect little babies like that to walk. Luckily they do quite well on their own but a bit of a lonely life without other baby swan to talk to. You did well to no avail. Good job you haven't to bottle fed it!
@888rachel Well unfortunately he has not been reunited with his parents but he has joined three of his siblings who were found by another person in the township. See today's upload.
