Swanpool nature reserve has been host to a black swan for the best part of the last four months, this is not an unusual situation as he is a regular visitor. In the past the cob and the pen who are resident on Swanpool Nature Reserve normally would chase him off the pool as an interloper as they are very territorial about their home...
However, the black swan has stayed and become more and more aggressive towards the six cygnets and the cob and the pen to such an extent that he is now ruling the roost on the pool and upsetting the natural order of things. It is at this time of the year that the cob and the pen would chase off their cygnets to leave the pool just for themselves so they can mate and then nest. This has not happened because of the interference of the black swan and our resident swans have been traumatised.
We have been very worried about the situation for the past few weeks and made a decision last Friday to remove the black swan from the reserve so that natural order can be resumed. We rang the RSPCA whom we deal with regularly and asked their advice about how best to proceed, we told them the story that has unfolded and they agreed with us that it would be best if the black swan was removed to allow things to return to normal. They also added that nine times out of ten the black swan is much more aggressive that the white mute swan. Now for this to be facilitated they asked us if we could get the black swan ashore (both myself, Pete Lochrie proprietor of Swanpool Beach, and Gary Thomson volunteer warden on the Reserve have been on a course at Abbottsbury Swannery in Dorset to learn about the physiology and practical way of handling swans).
The RSPCA added that under section nineteen of an act black swans are treated as domestic animals because they have escaped from a private collection, they are indigenous to Australia and should not be on the Reserve causing problems.
They have a nature reserve of their own at West Hatch near Taunton or there is a black swan colony near Dawlish in Devon and this is where the black swan will go to.
On Friday afternoon the swans very obligingly went ashore to eat some grass and we were able to uplift the black swan (we have a Velcro wrap that is put around the swans wings so he is unable to move) we then took him to Rose Mullion vets in Falmouth for them to hold until the RSPCA could pick him up, Rose Mullion vets are a great friend to the Swanpool Nature Reserve and give us help throughout the year with the birds and other situations like this.
So if any of the local people in Falmouth are wondering what has happened to the black swan it is herein explained and things have returned to normal back on Swanpool Nature Reserve with the cob and pen trying to chase off the cygnets so that they can mate and then nest.
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