by Ali Rasey
We had a cygnet episode at Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve!
Late Tuesday afternoon we received a call from a gentleman about a cygnet that seemed to be in trouble at the reserve. Apparently it was not able to fly, and had decided to ‘give up’ adjacent to the path in Simpson’s Field.
Some lovely and concerned members of the public and two ladies from Fairfield Animal Centre had been keeping dogs and people away from it – it looked exhausted, and was definitely going nowhere! Most likely, it was one of this year’s hatchings that, once old enough, had been chased off by its parents to find its own territory but had become exhausted and decided to stop and rest at the Reserve.
The problem was that it was extremely vulnerable to dogs, and foxes come nightfall. One lady had contacted Frome’s Cornpop Critter Rescue who saved the day (well, evening by this time!). A member of their team arrived and scooped the cygnet up in a doggy blanket. They will feed and rest it, and set it free once it has regained its strength.
Well done to everyone involved and thank you for caring about the cygnet – I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Information about swan/cygnet behaviour can be found here The Swan Sanctuary Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – The Swan Sanctuary
Ali Rasey is a Countryside Officer working with Wiltshire Council’s Countryside and Rights of Way Department.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
I would imagine that for a swan to gain sufficient speed to take off on land would require a tremendous physical effort. I also wonder where it landed. Anyone any thoughts?
It was found in Simpson’s Field, next to the central path. Please leave a name next time you comment – our policy is to delete anonymous comments but we’ll ignore that for the moment.
I wonder if it thought the path was a stream. The stones are grey and from above it would be hard to tell the difference.