Rare Australian black swan spotted in Saltcoats

20th May

By Rebecca Garrett Reporter

Saltcoats beach had an unusual visitor at the weekend – an Australian black swan.

Jim Waugh posted photographs to Facebook of the rare bird yesterday (Sunday, May 20).

He said: “Pleased that I've been lucky enough to see one in the wild. A very rare sight here – only four others have ever been reported as living in the wild in Scotland.

“They're native to Australia. This one must have escaped from a zoo or private collection.”

Black swans are common in the wetlands of southwestern and eastern Australia and adjacent coastal islands. They were introduced to other countries as ornamental birds in the 1800s but many have escaped and formed stable populations. 

There is a small population of black swans living on the River Thames in London.

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Black swan stolen from 14th Century manor house in latest avian tragedy to strike Yorkshire moat

Helena Horton 

25 APRIL 2019 • 5:00PM

A male black swan has been left to protect his unhatched eggs alone after his mate was stolen from her nest in the moat of a 14th century manor house, in the latest tragedy to hit the couple.

The sight of Sebastian breaks the heart of those who live at Markenfield Hall in Yorkshire, as he regularly goes back to the nest to check on his eggs.

Is is thought his partner Sylvia, who had been an attraction at the house for years, was stolen, as she disappeared without a trace.

This comes after Sylvia's previous mate was killed by an otter two years ago, and after a period of mourning she was introduced to Sebastian, and they quickly hit it off.

The pair had spent most of this month constructing a nest on the moat bank at the manor house so Sylvia could lay her eggs. Many in the area were excited to hear the cheeps of cygnets come late spring.

But owner of the manor Lady Deirdre Curteis and husband Ian Curteis began to grow concerned when they found Sebastian by himself last Saturday, sitting on the nest alone.

Lady Deirdre said: "I thought it was peculiar as Sebastian - the male - always swims across when he sees anyone coming, but there was just one swan and it was sitting on the nest.

"We searched for Sylvia for days but found no trace anywhere - not even a feather".

Swans are unusual in that both the parent birds help incubate any eggs, with one standing guard to warn off predators. If they hatch, Sebastian will have to be a single parent, protecting them until they are old enough to fly.

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Rare black swan spotted 9,000 miles from home on River Severn

Only a handful of unusual species thought to be living in the wild in Britain

Tom Barnes 

A rare black swan has been spotted more than 9,000 miles from its native habitat drifting down a river in the West Midlands.

The species, which originated in Australia, is common in wildlife parks in the UK, but is rarely sighted in the wild.

However, Sylvia Herbert was able to photograph the creature as it floated on the River Severn in Worcester on Thursday.

The 70-year-old said the area of the river in which she saw the animal is often filled with dozens of water birds, but added she had never spotted a black swan there in three decades living in the city.

“It is quite aggressive - we had actually stopped and I was taking pictures of the cygnets -when we saw this black swan come right up to the side,” she said.

“It doesn’t seem to like the other swans as it keeps chasing them. Black swans are rather striking, they have a different call to the mute swans.

“I’ve lived in the city for more than 30 years but I’ve never seen a black one before. It looks rather beautiful and a rare treat.”

The small number of black swans living wild in the UK are ancestors of birds either released or escaped from captivity.

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