On another wet and windy day we return to Pond Cottage after a night away, pausing by the gate to check the postbox. And there’s a surprise package, a gift that brightens the gloom: a delightful sketch of our Mother Swan by the talented artist Rowena Millard.
Rowena had first visited the garden in April after asking if she could organise a day’s sketching as a birthday treat for a friend, with donations for the charity we support, Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. Such a great idea, it gives me new ambitions for activities in our Scotland’s Gardens Scheme programme. What about welcoming local and visiting artists, musicians, poets, writers…people who want space to think and create new work?
To spread that notion, I’ve been meaning to post some of the pictures that emerged from the April visit. But in the meantime ‘our’ nesting swans had produced a brood of six beautiful cygnets in early June. I mentioned that when I sent Rowena a note to check it was ok to share her pictures.
She replied straight away, generously giving permission and, by the way, asking if she might pop in next day to see the cygnets while they are still just fluffy little bundles. Which she did. We were going to be away but she said she would take pictures and send us a photo if she did another drawing.
And here it is. Not just a photograph but a sketch that makes me smile every time I look at it. Rowena has captured the character of this young swan: watchful, wary, proudly and tirelessly protective of her alert and bright eyed offspring. A first-time mother, we think, introducing an eventful new chapter in the saga of the swans of Pond Cottage.
Swan partners and parents
We’ve been learning from a succession of swans and their different parenting styles over the course of almost 20 years. The first pair arrived after our first big dredging operation when the pond sparkled with fresh new life. Since then we’ve learned that swans don’t always mate for life (one single mother brought up three very healthy cygnets on her own after her partner left), others pair faithfully through illness and injury (one male stayed loyally and touchingly close by when his poor partner developed a twisted neck and was unable to mate, they stayed for a year but did not return), some claim their territory with almost comical confidence (see the video of the parading swans).
I’ve been inclined to romanticise what seemed like perfect parenting until last summer when a different reality emerged. The male of the species does not like competition – a young male cygnet might be ruthlessly despatched. It’s a sad story for another time…
Right now, I am watching this year’s young family sitting on the lawn opposite the living room window, the cygnets grazing the edge of the wildflower meadow, their parents standing guard. Earlier this week they took to marching up the path, Mr Swan looking fierce knocking loudly at the front door! This was new behaviour an unexpectedly aggressive interaction with the human hands that feed them. The swans are anxious. But they are also teaching us new lessons in resilience and survival.
Climate change challenges. New weather patterns blur the lines between seasons, bringing heavier rain, cruel winds, floods of water brown with soil washed down from fields upstream. More silt means more pollution less weed in the pond. Swans have become increasingly dependent on the grain we throw into shallow water near the bank. Not just grain, mind you, the menu has become more sophisticated.
Swan Salad
Lettuce leaves, dandelion leaves, peas (fresh or frozen), a handful or two of ‘sticky willy’ (cleavers, goose grass). All chopped finely into bite (or beak) size pieces. Along with new floating pellets. The cygnets love it.
[Thanks to Caitlin for the recipe]
Facing up to the storms
This year’s swans have been remarkably stoical. The young male spent the winter with us which meant he was here for the brutal battering of storm Éowyn. Hurricane force 99 mph gusts so fierce Ray and I were unable to stand up outside.
Amazingly ‘our’ swan positioned himself in the middle of the pond, away from the risk of falling trees. For six hours, or longer, he faced the bully-boy storm, paddling ceaselessly to stay in his chosen position. Apologies if I seem to be labouring the point but I still find it very moving to think of this young bird’s intelligent determination to survive.
He left us a few weeks later but soon returned with his mate, an elegant young female who has shown similar resourceful courage throughout an often hostile breeding season. With temperatures mostly below average and long, grey days of remorseless rain and wind, she sat and sat. Her faithful mate beside her, fortifying the nest with reeds and flag iris he pulled from the bank, staying close for what felt like a very long time. An unpromising May turned into a less than blooming June.
Finally, the reward: On 11 June (while we were away ) we got a text from Helen who was kindly minding Pond Cottage for us. “The swans look very happy. Six perfect wee cygnets bobbing about. Six perfect fluffy wee pompom heads.”
And that’s what Rowena found. Mother Swan and her brood in their nest among the reeds. We love the sketch she has sent us.
“Far from my best,” she emailed, “but I think that is less the point than it is a joy to be outside looking at and trying to capture the natural world around.”
Swans rule at Pond Cottage
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