Caen Hill (Friday 29th July 2016)

There are several swan families that I've been keeping an eye on this summer and I've featured several of them on Blipfoto. There is a family on the Marden in Calne that occasionally venture into Castlefields Park but are mostly on sections of the river that I don't have access to and I haven't seen them. I have been keeping tabs on the family on Bowood Lake, at the Marlborough Waterfront, on the Avon at Lacock Abbey and couple of families on the Kennet and Avon in Devizes.

I wanted to check on the pair of cygnets on the Caen Hill Flight and parked on Marsh Lane at the bottom of the lock staircase. I found the non-breeding pair and a new lone adult swan at the top but initially there was no sign of the family. I did see some black-headed gulls, their breeding plumage now fading away, and two herons, one on a pontoon at the side pond below the café.

On my descent I found the two breeding adults in a sidepond that had been empty of swans before and with them was one cygnet. I am hoping the other one was around as it seems too large now to have been predated, although there are otters in the canal near to Marsh Lane Bridge. Fingers crossed.

L.
6.8.2016 (1406 hr)

Blip #1902 (#2152 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #006
Day #2318
LOTD #1137 (#1261 including archived blips)

Taken with Pentax K-50 (Red) and Pentax HD P-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR lens

A Visit To Caen Hill Locks, 29 July 2016 (Flickr album)

Caen Hill series
Canals series
Kennet and Avon Canal series
Swan series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon (1996)
Mark Doughty of Soul Coughing was performing in Bath on this day.