I’m always on the lookout for a wildlife filming project, so, when I discovered a swan’s nest not too far from my art studio in Thixendale I decided to set up some cameras.
A swan nest
The nest was huge, at least six feet across, and made from reeds snatched from a bed growing beside a lake.Swans use the same site year after year, adding fresh reeds onto the compacted remains of the previous year’s nest and this one had been in place so long the water levels had risen around it so that it now formed an island. The swans had made narrow channels leading to and from the nest and lake and it was so large it was visible on Google Earth. New reeds had recently been added to the nest and so I watched from a distance, waiting for the swan pair to leave the site.
Setting up my cameras
Once I was sure they were away and would not return for a while, I set to work digging a fence post next to the nest and strapping a remote camera to it. I then rolled a cable back to the bank so that I could operate the camera from a safe distance. It was important my filming did not disturb the swans as they nested. Once the cameras were in place, I set about building a hide in the reeds close by as well as a viewing platform in a tree above. I also set up small cameras at points along the channel to the main lake.
11 swan eggs
By March, I noticed the female spending more and more of her days on the nest and I suspected she was ready to lay. I kept my distance watching the remote cameras as they filmed the moment the first egg appeared in the nest. The cameras kept on rolling as every second day a new egg appeared until the female had laid total of 11 eggs. This was a big number for a swan clutch.
Then came the long, patient days of incubation. Swans sit on their eggs for up to five weeks and during that time the female only left the nest for very short spells. The male helped out by keeping the eggs warm, but male swans do not have bald brood patches on their underbellies and therefore can’t maintain the temperatures required for full-time incubation. After five weeks, I began visiting my hide every day to make sure I didn’t miss seeing the cygnets hatch.
10 swan cygnets hatch
Eventually the day came when the first chick hatched, but it wasn’t until the female shifted position that I got my first glimpse of new life, and even then it was fleeting. I did notice, however, there were cracks in a few of the other eggs and so I waited until, just visible against female’s white underbelly, I saw a crack in one egg widen and a chick emerge, wet and a bit wobbly. Within 36 hours, 10 cygnets had hatched. Sadly one didn’t make it but that isn’t unusual for a large clutch like this.
First swims
As the chicks hatch, the male wasted no time and began teaching the eldest chick to swim, encouraging it to follow him round and round the nest. And then a few days later all 10 cygnets were apparently ready for their first swims because the male began clearing the reeds to make a little learner pool. Once this was ready, it was time for swimming lessons. I watched as the male called to the cygnets, encouraging them all off the nest.
One by one they tumbled into the water, the last one just a little reluctant to follow. It was magical watching all 10 cygnets glide over the water for the first time. After only a few minutes however, these tiny chicks returned to the nest, exhausted. But within a few hours, they were ready to explore again, this time venturing a little further. As they set off it was interesting to see how the female kept the cygnets close to her whilst the male swam ahead to check if the coast was clear.
The route home took the family past a small bridge, But the cygnets were too small to scramble up the bank and instead found a small gap under the bridge and one by one squeezed their way through. It was sweet to see how already they were applying intuition to their newly acquired navigational skills.
Cygnets grow up
I continued to film the cygnet’s progress as they grew, but sadly not all ten made it through the first few months. The remaining eight, however, thrived and I watched as summer turned to autumn and their grey downy feathers moulted, to be replaced with snow white swan plumage.
First snows
When winter arrived, bringing with it freezing temperatures, the lake turned to ice. Now the swans faced new challenges. Again, they took their cue from their parents, following the male as he ploughed through the ice to create a navigable channel to a new feeding area in open water.
It was such a privilege to follow this wildlife story from the very beginning, but I haven’t stopped watching this swan family and keep stopping by, now and again to see the cygnets become fully independent swans.
