How sad

Remember my swan, the one on my daily delivery route that I watched painstakingly build a beautiful nest some weeks ago and then have watched daily sitting atop her eggs waiting patiently for them to hatch.....well sadly there don't seem to be any eggs! :o(

This amazing creature has sat there now for weeks in all weathers, without ever pottering off, waiting for her offspring to hatch. Her partner has dutifully helped with the nest building, bought her food and tended to her every need and then a few days ago I caught her standing up, stretching her legs momentarily and seemingly investigating in the bottom of her nest. I had a clear view and there were no eggs at all, not a one! Again today I managed to catch her standing for a moment and again I could see clearly....deffinately no eggs. I felt so sad for her.

I set about making enquiries among some of the people who work in the vicinity and discovered that exactly the same thing happened last year. The same pair of swans (they are numbered) nested in the same spot, he tended to her needs while she sat on the nest for weeks on end and finally they seemed to realise it was to no avail and gave up on the egg-less nest.

This years it has happened again. I don't know much about swans and their breeding habits and I don't seem to be able to find out if this is a common situation but every day when I see her now, still waiting patiently and getting less and less well kempt, as they do over the prolonged incubation period, I feel sad for her and hope that she will realise before too much longer that there are to be no swan-lets and go back to the water.