Caen Hill Locks (Saturday 23rd May 2015)

Good news at Caen Hill Locks from this day: Having found an absence of swans and cygnets the day before, I had to return. At the Boto-X Lock the story was the same as before and seemed to confirm the conclusions previously reached, that the remaining eggs had been abandoned and the swans had moved on.

I walked on up the canal, past Caen Hill Café and the Caen Hill Moorings, towards the Bath Road, where there is another lock, and there I saw a pair of swans with a single cygnet. The pair on the Boto-X Lock were not the only pair on that length of the canal so I could not be sure that this was the same pair, but the fact that there was just one cygnet seemed to suggest that it might be; either the first cygnet that had not been seen on three subsequent visits, or possibly one that had hatched from the remaining five eggs.

I took a number of shots and on the final picture I could see the tag on the leg of the cob swan, J5K. When I got home I went through my files of pictures taken on previous visits and sure enough, it was the same swan.

From the size of the cygnet, I also concluded that it was the same cygnet that I had seen when it was a couple of days old, and I later had this confirmed. It must have been concealed, possibly under the wing of a parent swan, each time I had returned. The sight of the threesome was a great birthday present, as I had reached a particular and rather terrifying milestone on that day (and Smokey was eight on the same day).

L.
2.6.2015 (2343hr)

Blip #1588 (#1838 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #009
Day #1886
LOTD #822 (#943 including archived blips)

A Visit To Caen Hill Locks, 23 May 2015 (Flickr album)

Caen Hill series
Canals series
Kennet and Avon Canal series
Swan series
Today's Extra Photos series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
The Fall - Venice With The Girls (2015)
From Sub-Lingual Tablet, a birthday present.

One year ago:
Abbotsbury Swannery