An illness in a member of family of swans
has shown the close bonding between the
male, its partner and young. A cob swan
which has been resident at Castle Archdale
marina for many years, showed signs of ill
health recently when it was noticed he did
not enter the water to feed and relied on the
scraps from local holidaymakers.But as a result of the vigilance of several regular visitors to the park and in
particular, Hugh McCready and his wife, Alice, and the Warden, Ian Braund,
the swan was taken to a vet for treatment.
The vet, Janet Carson, who has a practice in Castlederg and specialises in
wildlife and unusual animals, carried out tests and suspected that lead
poisoning was the cause of the bird’s illness. The vet began a course of
injections to get rid of the toxins in the swan before he was returned to the
Warden at Castle Archdale. A special compound was built to keep the swan
until he was well enough to fend for himself.
Once the swan, christened Charlie, was returned to his natural home, he
began to improve.
Hugh McCready says during the cob’s illness, the pen and four cygnets left
their roosting place on the other side of the slipway each morning and swam
over to the cob where they embraced each other. They then go their separate
ways during the day, the pen and cygnets swimming out into the lake to feed.
Last week, Hugh said the cob was making good progress and had begun to
join his family for a swim.
“This shows the faithfulness of a bird,” said Mr.McCready, who has followed
the progress of this family of swans from early in the season.
Mr. McCready and his wife spend lengthy periods at their caravan from March
to September and saw a brood of five cygnets hatched this Spring although
one did not survive.
It was only in recent weeks that the cob showed signs of distress and illness,
being unable to walk properly and unable to swim. However since he has
been treated by the vet, he has seen a marked improvement, and on
Thursday, he was able to swim some distance from the shore, feeding the
natural way.
Although lead shot has been banned from use by anglers for the past number
of years, Mr. Braund believes that the swan may have picked up lead particles
resulting from target training during the Second World War when the area
was an RAF base or from the spent cartridges used by wildfowlers during the
duck shooting season.
Swans feed along the bed of the lake, lifting up silt and sand but if lead shot is
taken in, it remains in the gizzard leading to debilitating health.
Hugh and Alice McCready, who are from Newtownabbey, have been enjoying
the facilities at Castle Archdale for the past 30 years, pursuing boating and
angling and take a keen interest in the wildlife on the shores of Lough Erne.
An illness in a member of family of swans
has shown the close bonding between the
male, its partner and young. A cob swan
which has been resident at Castle Archdale
marina for many years, showed signs of ill
health recently when it was noticed he did
not enter the water to feed and relied on the
scraps from local holidaymakers.