A slightly belated report on a walk that Sid and I had at the end of yesterday morning (Sunday 17 October). It might still be suitable for the blog, and either way we'd be very interested in your, and others', views on the behaviour of the swans. We think that the parents have done well in raising three of their six offspring to full size - the seal which was frequenting the harbour over the summer apparently took one or more of the others.
As we rounded the corner of the Technium, at around 11:40, a Kingfisher flew in - vividly turquoise in the sunlight - and settled halfway down the wall of the "Gap" at Aberystwyth Harbour. A few minutes later it moved to a post in the wall just below Trefechan Bridge, before disappearing up the Rheidol. There were over 30 Cormorants and Shags on Castle Rocks, or in the water around them, with constant landings and takeoffs; a Greater Black-backed Gull remained on the rocks throughout. At Castle Point we saw 15 Ringed Plovers and 8 Turnstones. In between these sightings, we noticed four Mute Swans swimming just off South Beach: one adult, and the three juveniles that have survived from the original brood of 6 seen in and around Aberystwyth Harbour this summer. After a while they swam further out to sea, and then suddenly all took off for a very short flight before landing on the water again. Could the adult have taken the youngsters out to give them more space to attempt their maiden flights??
Helen Ougham and Sid Thomas