Today hubby and I went a cycle ride along the Forth and Clyde canal. There were plenty of swans to be seen. Some were in pairs, some in small family groups and some were on their own trying to establish new territories or hold onto existing ones.
At Auchinstarry basin I watched a man with a dog whistle out over the canal and then saw an adult and two juveniles come to him and follow him back to his boat. He then fed them from the side of his boat.
This swan below missed out on breakfast. It was off on a mission. It had its wing feathers puffed out like sails and was going at some speed westwards.
We caught up with this swan when we turned back west ourselves and observed it chasing other swans out of its territory. First it went for a juvenile swan, putting it in its place.
Then it approached this other swan who was dabbling about peacefully minding its own business.
We stopped the bikes ahead of the swan patrolling its territory and I got the camera primed ready for some action. Sure enough, the incoming swan started to take off the water to go for the sedentary swan. It paddled down the canal runway and with some effort began to lift its bulk above the water.
It successfully chased off the peaceable swan which had to find a new spot to dabble in further along the canal.
Given that it was a very successful year for cygnets along the canal ( one pair in Kirkintilloch had 9 cygnets!) there must be a lot of territorial battles taking place just now. When a lot of other wildlife seems quite quiet at this time of year it was interesting to watch the swans along by the canal.
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 