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Swans on canal

Micil

Hi
Has anybody seen the swans on the Grand Canal (past Baggot St Bridge) recently? I saw the parents and one cygnet there a few days ago - there were four - any information on what happened???

MIke

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AnonoBoy

What do you mean, what happened?

Have they disappeared?

Micil

Well, we passed on Monday and there was just one parent and one cygnet, yesterday the two parents with still only one cygnet...

JuliusCaesar

Foxes?

Cookie_Monster

cygnets asleep in the grass?

Tabnabs

Flew away? (pesky birds)

Piste

Polish? (sorry!)

I saw a good few the other day, the probably wandered to a different part of the Canal. They like the bridge near Leonard's Corner.

Degsy

There are a few of them on the royal canal just at drumcondra bridge..the last time i walked by they had a giant nest with large eggs sitting in plain view with a menacing-looking swan standing nearby.

AnonoBoy

Joe Banks, eighty-two years young, has come to the Grand Canal every day for the past seventeen years, to feed the swans. But last month, Joe made a discovery. The swans...were gone. Some say the swans went to England. Others say, London. And some people think that Joe used to sit down there, near those swans. But it could be, that there's just no room in this modern world, for an old man...and his swans.

cosmic

The always disappear off somewhere for a few months during the Summer. Like a holiday. Me and my OH go and feed them all the time, once a week at least, and it's been the same every Summer for years now. They'll be back when it starts getting chilly again.

Roddy23

They've been dredging the canal up around that area the last few days, so wouldn't be too surprised if the swans have moved on, to somewhere a lot quieter.

talla10

Well Mike when a Daddy Swan meets a Mammy Swan and they love each other very much they get married in front of all their swan friends and swan family. Then Daddy swan and Mammy swan cuddle in a 'special way' and Mammy Swan gives birth to baby swans. The Family of swans then find a nest, in this case the canal beside Baggot St, and live out their swan lives in swan peace.

Degsy

talla10 wrote: »

Well Mike when a Daddy Swan meets a Mammy Swan and they love each other very much they get married in front of all their swan friends and swan family. Then Daddy swan and Mammy swan cuddle in a 'special way' and Mammy Swan gives birth to baby swans. The Family of swans then find a nest, in this case the canal beside Baggot St, and live out their swan lives in swan peace.

Unless of course hungry romanian swans come along with a swanproof roasting dish and a packet of St Bernard Swan Seasoning.

reprazant

They haven't gone away. They are just down at the part by the Mount St. bridge.

Is there only 1 signet left? I haven't seen them for a while. They were up at the Lesson St. part of the canal but may have moved as there was a constant crown looking at them pretty much all the time.

Not sure how the have managed to get down the canal though. Maybe the move has done something to the young ones?

Micil

lovely sarcasm there, just lovely.

To clarify - I am interested in finding out what happened to the other three cygnets who are about four weeks old. I doubt they've gone on a holiday by themselves, or flown away at this stage.

cosmic

Maybe they're hiding from swan stalkers who demand to know their whereabouts at all times

Tails142

I can put this to you two ways

1) they've gone to live in the country where its quieter

2) they're dead

Take your pick.

fergiesfav

Most likely killed. Could be a fox, dog or even another adult male swan. 1out of 4 surviving is probably par for the course nature is a harsh place!!!!

Paparazzo

Just keep your distance, they can break your arm

mattjohnson

hi mick,
i am afraid its bad news about the cygnets. i last saw them all together at the mount street bridge part of the canal a couple of weeks ago. they moved down the canal from the original nest at leeson st as far as mount st. a few days later i noticed that they were gone from there as well. there was quite a lot of people around the canal drinking because of the sunny weather. i imagine that the swans were getting way too much attention and they decided to move further away from the crowds.
i found them on the other side of grand canal st, in the grounds of the big BT office block just behind the fence from the path. there was only one cygnet resting on the grass while the parents looked very dishevelled. i immediately knew something was wrong concerning the other 3 cygnets. i noticed that further down the canal where it becomes the dock (between grand canal st and pearse st, there was another swan who also looked dishevelled (they were all fixing their feathers). i went down to see if the other swan in the distance was one of the original group and that the parents with the lone cygnet were a new family i hadnt seen before. i found a second swan with the new one in the distance but no cygnets.
my first guess was that either the other 3 drowned while undergoing one of the 'drops' when going through the canal lock. but they had already done this a few times already when they were much smaller (they are now the size of ducks) to get as far as mount st. or else there was a territorial fight between the swans and the other pair drowned the 3 cygnets in the scrap.
i went back down to that part of the canal the next day and tried to get into the grounds behind the fence. i saw two dead cygnets in the water. there was only one that i couldn't account for so i figured it had to also be dead.
i dont know how they could have drowned in the water cos we have all seen them sleeping while floating. but if they were panicking because they couldnt get out, then that might have been the reason. not to mention the possibility that the other two swans further up (only about 100 metres) might have faught with them and drowned the cygnets (this does happen apparently).
but i think the main reason there is only one left now is because of all the attention they were getting from people. there was no shortage of food for them from on-lookers including myself but some people simply went too far. as recently as a couple of days ago i saw some eejit getting up close with mammy swan and her one remaining cygnet trying to get the perfect picture with his humungous lens. needless to say the mother went all defensive, wings outstretched, hissing etc etc. but did this stop the eejit in question? no, he just kept on trying to get the perfect picture.
if its any consolation, i read somewhere that half the offspring are lucky to survive their first year. and if you've ever fed them, you'll have noticed that mammy and daddy swan have absolutely no qualms about eating all the grub without any consideration for their kids.
some people have posted that they might have flown off but the cygnets cant fly yet. i am curious how they managed to get back up through the locks to where they are now (between baggot st and percy place). has anyone seen them crossing the roads !? sounds crazy but i'm serious????

silvo

Unfortunately the three cygnets were killed by a rival family. I saw the three of them floating in the water straight after the fight with the mother trying to revive it. Pretty sad alright

fergiesfav

Definitely killed by rival swans. The area around BT has a resident swan pair who nest inside the dock. They have killed other swans before and are a formidable foe for any intruder