we have had 4 baby cygnets born here in atlanta, ga. so far everything is going well. we had them pinioned a couple of days ago.they are anywhere from 10-13 days old.
a friend came by and we scooped them up with a net...had them out of the water for no longer than 45 min then placed them back with their parents. when we placed them back the daddy was mean to them!!! he pecked, pushed and tried to grab them aggressively!! we were very worried that he was going to hurt them thru the night! mum was fine! the next morning all of the cygnets were fine and everything was back to normal. daddy was his usual sweet self. thank goodness!!! why did he act this way? we were worried he didn't want to take them back! however..we had them pinioned in a quick manner.. the friend that pinioned them had NEVER seen this behavior before!
also....mum swan shuffles her feet while in the lake and stretches her neck up constantly into the air. Looks like she is trying to catch invisible bugs!!??? we are worried that she has something caught in her neck....or is she trying to teach her babies something? we have not seen the dad do this....only mum! she does it alot!! she is eating normal...so we do not know.
any explanations to these swan actions would be greatly appreciated.
many thanks once again for this amazing website!!!!
sonia mesry