Injured drake and drunks by the swan nest!

This morning things were calm and peaceful, really beautiful actually. I was running late so quickly fed Sydney before going to see the geese, all good with them too, but there was a badly injured mallard drake that I didn’t have time to even try and help.
He was on my mind all day so I arranged to meet Sadie and Stacey there after work, expecting to either find he had died or catching him and having to take him to the vets to be put to sleep - he honestly looked that bad! But, when we finally found him, he was thankfully much improved and we were unable to catch him. Fingers crossed he will be OK, but he will be monitored.
We decided to quickly say hello to Syd and Wilma while we were there this eve, and ended up standing over Syd for well over an hour to help him feel safe as four drunken men were next to the nest, playing music and getting right in Syd’s face! I stepped between the guy and Sydney as the poor fella was clearly very stressed and had his wings up ready to attack / defend Wilma.
It took absolutely ages, but finally the unwelcome visitors decided to move on and Sydney was able to relax, as was Wilma who spent some time covering her eggs before she joined Syd on the water for a swim. Then the sweetest thing happened, Sydney started chatting to his eggs! This means they’re now peeping and getting ready to start breaking out of their shells… so watch this space! 😍

[@abeautifullife5303]

Exciting news about Wilma and her chicks coming very soon! How cute of Siddi to talk with his chickies!Thank you!♥️🦢♥️

[@helenamcginty4920]

Why do you have to feed the swans? Or is it just a treat? Curious not criticising. ❤

[@reallifewiththecrazybirdla2660]

Feeding is part of the culture here, it’s been done for many generations, but for those of us who care for the birds regularly it’s part of general care, especially with the bigger flocks, as it develops trust and allows us to do visual checks and help the birds when the need arises. There’s no way I’d be able to walk into a flock of dozens of swans and pick up one that needed a hook removed if they didn’t know and trust me.