Not in our back river!

Resident swans chase rival cygnet

A cygnet from the upstream family of swans was foolish enough to stray into our swan family's territory and was seriously attacked. It managed to escape but didn't learn a lesson and was soon cornered by dad, mum and the three cygnets. It kept trying to climb out onto the bank but was dragged under by the attacking swans. It didn't stand a chance and, in the end, Dave went across in the boat to hold off the attackers long enough for the cygnet to escape.

A cygnet chases off one of its own family

The cygnets are learning to defend their territory and are quite happy to attack each other. Meanwhile Bidou, the black swan, takes great delight in chasing all the cygnets. Perhaps she sees it as payback time for all her humiliations throughout the year at the hands of the parent mute swans.

Early morning sun catches the autumn foliage

There was the most glorious light on the trees one morning this week. The river took on a golden hue as it reflected the lovely autumn colour in the trees on the opposite bank.

Evening sun on the bank opposite

We've had a lovely autumn and have managed to get out in the boat regularly, if only for a half hour trip upstream, round the islands and back again. The evening light looks so restful as the sun's low rays slant through the trees but the scene was far from peaceful on Monday night at around 10.30pm. The silence was broken by the sound of many police sirens. Then I heard what sounded like a mini bike racing along the towpath from the Hurst Park direction before stopping close by. A minute later a number of policemen/women ran along the towpath from the Molesey direction and there were flashlights and people shouting for a while. Finally, a helicopter was sent up to scour the area so presumably the fugitive wasn't found. Later I saw more police searching with flashlights among the trees and shrubs. If anyone reading this knows what happened, please put us out of our suspense!

A garden on the riverbank en route to Sunbury weir stream

Whenever it's sunny we try to make the most of the river by taking our day boat up or down stream. The air is getting chillier in the late afternoon but the light is quite lovely when the sky is so clear. It's interesting to see how far some of our local wildlife travels. The two fat ladies have completely recovered now from the loss of their male partner and use Duck Ait as their base. They swim around some of the island and into the lagoon but don't circumnavigate the island. Bidou travels as far as Platts Eyot, however, and I've also seen some of the ducks that come to feed daily in the Platts Eyot area later in the day.