Ask the Swan Specialist

Swans building nest in inappropriate area
By:Victoria
Date: 27 March 2018

We have a male and female breeding pair. This year they built a nest in our garden area which is totally inappropriate due to easy access for predators. There would be no protection for them whatsoever. We do have a Livestock Guardian Dog but I honestly don’t think he would offer much protection as he is always roaming the property at night and probably wouldn’t constantly be in their vicinity. We have a small island on our pond which is where they built a couple of nests last year so I’m not sure why they didn’t use that location this year. If I would move the nest to the island, do you think they would settle there or at least build a new nest there? She has not layed any eggs yet. And she is only three so she has not produced any cygnets yet.