Thoughts on Seeing the First Cygnets of Summer!

 The lock keeper guides the birds safe away from the lock sluices.

My thoughts on seeing the first cygnets of summer were joyful ones for the birds,  but those of a rather rude nature about the English weather, which has been really terrible.  It stays so cold, that I've put on the heating again, and wear a thick jacket and winter boots when I go out shopping.  I walked the Caen Hill circular on Monday morning, just a quick, three mile walk around the famous flight of locks.  It was so cold in the wind, that I nearly turned back, but decided that a walk would be good for me, even though every bone in my body wanted to return home.   

It was lucky that I continued, because I came across the deserted swans nest, but found the pair out and about with their newly hatched cygnets.   All seven little ones swam merrily near the lock sluice, quite unaware of its dangers.  The lock keeper arrived to encourage them to swim somewhere safer, and eventually they moved away into the middle of the pound.   Sadly a cygnet had been sucked into the sluice earlier that morning, and did not survive, so the lock keeper was keen to keep the birds away from danger.

The parents and  seven of the original eight cygnets.

To the top left of the photo is the lock sluice, where water rushes through to fill the empty lock, and  allow a boat  to come up the flight.   It was here that one cynget was sucked into the sluice by the rush of the water.  I wonder how many of these little creature will survive.