‘Yvonne the Swan’ is a Proud Mother of Nine

Published on: 14 May, 2019
Updated on: 14 May, 2019

“Hello world!” First there is one little cygnet – Ann Jacobs ©.

“Yvonne the Swan” who nested with her cob partner just opposite the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre has produced nine fluffy grey cygnets, six weeks after the eggs were laid.

Photographer Ann Jacobs has been on watch to witness the hatchings and has recorded these images which she kindly sent in to The Dragon to share with our readers.

Then five, and by the end of the day, nine cygnets had successfully hatched to face a dangerous world with predators surely lurking – Ann Jacobs ©.

Yesterday early evening (May 13) Yvonne (the pen) was keeping her brood mostly hidden under her wings, as her cob sat protectively close by.

According to the website Swan Life, “The mortality rate of cygnets in the second week of their life is higher than those in the first week. The first week’s mortality rate is about 9%, 22% for the second week.)

At around 7.30pm Ann said, “So far eight of the nine eggs have hatched but I have seen a polecat sniffing around.”

A little later she added, “The swans now have nine cygnets and I expect them to leave the nest site tomorrow and start life on the water. I hope to get some images of them riding on the back of the mummy. I took the bottom image at 5.30am in the mist on the river Wey along from Millmead lock.”

Dawn on the Wey a beautiful image taken by Ann Jacobs ©.

See also: Yvonne the Swan – One of the Best Shows in Town

Update May 14: The cygnets first sortie onto the river was caught today by Guildford Dragon editor Martin Giles.

He said: “Just a very rushed photo and video clip I am afraid but I was lucky to be passing, just before 4pm, to witness the cygnets first excursion. A little later they were struggling to climb the steep river bank to return to their nest. Hopefully, they made it in the end. Other observers said they counted eight cygnets, so perhaps one has already been lost.”

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