Earlier this year, it was an honour to be invited by the Mayor, Paul Baker, to afternoon tea and cakes in his parlour within the Municipal Building of Cheltenham Borough Council. He wanted to thank Pittville Swans & Friends for the time and effort we put into looking out for the wildlife in Pittville Park and for retrieving all the rubbish and fishing tackle from the Boating Lake.
Coincidentally, on the same day that we were having tea with the Mayor, an interloper swan flew in to the Boating Lake but was chased off and took up residence on the Pump Room Lake. When George started to chase his own cygnets off the lake, one cygnet went to the safety of the Pump Room Lake to join the interloper. In March another interloper flew into the Pump Room Lake and then Zara, a Pittville cygnet from 2021, also flew back in to the Pump Room Lake. So at one time, very unusually and rather confusingly, we had four swans on the Boating Lake and four on the Pump Room Lake.
More recently, George and Maisie have become proud parents again and they brought their magnificent seven cygnets onto the lake for the first time on 6 May. Unfortunately, one cygnet was killed by predators within two days and another two on the evening of 14th May. Although it is hard to accept, the loss of cygnets and other birds when they are very young and very small is a natural occurrence. George and Maisie soon began to explore their territory and took the family from the Boating Lake to the Pump Room Lake when the cygnets were only a week old. Since then, they have been crossing from one lake to the other almost every day, using the tunnel which passes under Evesham Road. The cygnets have an amazing capacity to bring joy and put a huge smile on the faces of the many people who come to Pittville Park. We will continue to monitor the development and progress of the cygnets over the coming months.
Author: Chris Heathershaw, Pittville Swans and Friends