Black swans

Bourne's

black

swans

Photograph courtesy Geoff Bell

Black swans are indigenous to Australia and Tasmania and several have made their home at St Peter’s Pool since the summer of 1999. They are handsome birds with dark, curly plumage, bright red bills and white wing feathers that show only in flight. One appears on the armorial standard of Western Australia where the Dutch discovered it in 1697.

They took it to Batavia and thence to Europe where the existence of a black swan was regarded with amazement. Like the mute swan, it has been successfully domesticated and raised in captivity and the first pair was a gift from the Wildfowl Trust when a shelter was made on the side of the pool where they later produced a number of cygnets each spring.

The black swans were soon such a familiar sight that they have become an icon for Bourne, having been featured on the front page of the town guide for 2004-05 and frequently on the Bourne web site which is read around the world. Unfortunately, the original pair are now dead, one killed by vandals early in 2007 and another by a fox, but a number of their cygnets remained in residence.

Several of these matured and survived the years until the summer of 2011 when St Peter's Pool dried up completely because of prolonged drought conditions and all wildlife suffered as a result.

The wings of the swans are pinioned by law to prevent them from breeding in the wild and so they are vulnerable to attack when there is no water in the pool. As a result, all but one of those remaining disappeared during the drought and are believed to have been killed by marauding dogs. But in May 2012, a pair of black swans were introduced to the pool after being bought with money donated by the Bourne Business Chamber.

By then, the dry spell had eased and the water level was back to normal after a prolonged period of heavy rain. The swans came from UK Waterfowl, a breeding farm based at Hanworth in Norfolk, and were transported to Bourne by members of the chamber. Tim Armstrong, the secretary, said that staff at the centre showed them how to handle the birds and although they were not particularly compliant, they did manage to complete the operation without a hitch. "The male did not want to be picked up when I arrived back in Bourne so I held it with some trepidation when we unloaded. But everything turned out well."

The birds were left in a holding pen and then released on to the pool after three days once they had become familiar with their new surroundings. "The swans have been greatly missed since the attack and everyone is pleased to have these back", said Mr Armstrong.

The swans will be cared for by Bourne United Charities which administers the Wellhead Gardens and it is hoped that the pair will breed during the autumn. The introduction of the new birds is seen as an excellent development because the black swans have become a favourite with visitors, particularly children, who take great delight in bringing them daily treats of bread and other tasty morsels and as a result, they become so tame that they swim over to meet anyone who arrives on the bank with a likely looking bag, usually with their family close behind.

PHOTO ALBUM



The original black swans (top with three cygnets and above left) and two of their many cygnets, now fully grown, with friends on the edge of the pool (right).


Two of the three resident black swans were killed by marauding dogs in the spring of 2012 and a pair from a breeding farm in Norfolk were donated by the Bourne Business Chamber in May. They soon settled in with the one remaining bird and within weeks had become friendly with visitors.




In November 2012, the new pair of swans produced six cygnets, four of which survived, and the family soon became a popular attraction on St Peter's Pool and along the Bourne Eau towards Baldock's Mill where they were repeatedly photographed. Unfortunately, one of the cygnets fell prey to a marauding fox, leaving only three but the family were still a big attraction around the Wellhead Gardens.


Early in 2014, the black swans built a nest in a quiet backwater of the river close to the Wellhead Gardens, a less secure nest site than the floating platform in the middle of St Peter's Pool because it does not give the same protection from predators and at this time there were reports that a mink had been seen in the locality. There was also bad news about the three young black swans that arrived last year and had grown to maturity, one being killed by traffic on South Road and the other two had simply disappeared although they may have flown off as their wings had not yet been pinioned.

This atmospheric photograph was taken in May 2014 just as St Peter's Pool had begun to dry up during a hot spell, leaving just a small area of water for the waterfowl that live here and a stretch of mud beyond.

RESTRICTING THEIR MOVEMENT

Strict restrictions are required in the keeping of black swans and in August 2005, a statement was issued by Ian Peters, wildlife advisor to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds based at Sandy in Bedfordshire, which said: "Under new government regulations, anyone keeping non-native species will have to ensure that the birds do not escape. However, there are already some feral birds around the country although breeding is rarely successful. Black swans are rarely more dominant than native mute swans and the latter would not allow black swans to breed nearby."
This would indicate that legally, our black swans and their cygnets should be pinioned to prevent them from flying away and although bird lovers may not approve, it does appear to be a wise precaution.