Swans......

[deptfordmarmoset]

Just had a couple of days in London, stopped near Deptford Bridge DLR up Greenwich HS.

I didn't see any swans wandering the streets but there were a few bobbing along the Thames each morning as we took the city cruiser into the busy bit.

You should have put a call out when you were down. Good beer at reasonable prices needs local expertise.

 

[Ganymede]

I love to see swans - they are amazing looking birds. Maybe yours are visitors from the Wetlands Centre? Or the Lee Valley reserve which only opened a couple of years ago downstream?

Having said that, I have eaten swan - a friend of mine on Romney Marsh found one that had been electrocuted on power lines, took it home and cooked it. Delicious as I recall... and probably illegal.

I would rather just enjoy the sight of them.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

It gradually spreads unnoticed, soon everybody else in Deptford will also have tattoos and ride a bike, it's the ongoing rise of the hipster.

Ooh, we've even got a cycle café where just about everyone has a beard (admittedly there are also some clean shaven women in there too) and a single speed, and has their nose in a Mac.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

You should have put a call out when you were down. Good beer at reasonable prices needs local expertise.

It was a family jaunt unfortunately, don't think I'd have got away with a jolly boys outing

I may give you a shout in the future tho, Deptford and Denmark Hill have a historic professional interest for me, I quite fancy a trip down without the rest to indulge my inner geek.

 

[PeteXXX]

I believe that Her Majiness owns all the swans in the United Kingdom..
Eat them at your peril lest the powers of the realm descend upon your unworthy head!!

 

[Cuchilo]

Swans rock ! when they get to know you they will come up and eat out of your hand without breaking your arm .
The problem is , when they get to know you they will peck the side of your boat at 4 AM so you get up to feed them so they dont break your arm .

 

[Moon bunny]

I believe that Her Majiness owns all the swans in the United Kingdom..
Eat them at your peril lest the powers of the realm descend upon your unworthy head!!

No, just the ones on the Thames. In other places the local nobs "owned" them, e.g. the Earl of Lonsdale had the rights to those on Windermere, as he owned the lake bed (but not the water). No different to deer on estates really. As the years passed and turkey took over as the fowl of choice for feasts the nobility lost interest in claiming their rights to swans.

 

[Cuchilo]

No, just the ones on the Thames. In other places the local nobs "owned" them, e.g. the Earl of Lonsdale had the rights to those on Windermere, as he owned the lake bed (but not the water).

That one cracks me up . No one can own the water so you're free to use it . They can own the land under and around it though so as soon as you stop you have to pay

 

[PeteXXX]

No, just the ones on the Thames. In other places the local nobs "owned" them, e.g. the Earl of Lonsdale had the rights to those on Windermere, as he owned the lake bed (but not the water). No different to deer on estates really. As the years passed and turkey took over as the fowl of choice for feasts the nobility lost interest in claiming their rights to swans.

Possibly, but possibly not..

The British monarchy owns all mute swans in British waters thanks to a 12th-century law enacted to prevent common people from eating swans, which were considered a delicacy by the monarchy. While the ruling monarchy no longer eats swan, they still protect and claim ownership of swans, most especially those in the River Thames and its surrounding tributaries. The Worshipful Company of Dyers and the Worshipful Company of Vintners are also permitted to own swans.

Every summer, the monarchy carries out a swan census called “swan upping.” New swans are marked, and their health is checked. The census is done by the swan uppers of the Dyers and Vintners companies along with the Royal Swan Uppers led by the Queen’s Swan Warden, who presently is a professor at the Department of Zoology at Oxford University. When rowing past the Windsor Castle, the Royal Swan Uppers stand at attention and raise their oars to salute “Her Majesty the Queen, Seigneur of the Swans.”[/I]

 

[nickyboy]

Safety in numbers, innit?

If you take a look at the photo, the large majority of the swans are fast asleep, roosting. Makes sense to do this together as the odd one still awake can keep an eye out for predators. Roosts come and go for all bird species. It often depends on the moving intertidedal channels. In the future the roost will probably move to some other place that offers reasonably security

 

[i hate hills]

Me no like swans been chased off the golf course too many times by them.

 

[buggi]

Clearly they have come to cheer up your dreary view

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I know swans can break your arm. What is it that can take your eye out? Is it seagulls?

If so, going by the OP they have formed gangs. Break your arm then blind you when you can't swat them away.

 

[snorri]

What is it that can take your eye out? Is it seagulls?.

Naw naw, it's wee boys wi' bows 'n' arras that can dae that yi dafty.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Naw naw, it's wee boys wi' bows 'n' arras that can dae that yi dafty.

Oh right, sorry. What do seagulls dae then? Nick chips?