You may remember the local swan family that had eight signets this season. That's a high number in terms of survival (i.e. only 39% of signets born on The Thames make it to adulthood).
   One of the parents vanished within a few weeks after the eggs hatched. The remaining parent battled on with the eight chicks. Sadly these first reduced to six, then five and finally three. That was bad enough but then the other parent went a.w.o.l.
   Finally, on the morning of Tuesday 26 July, Stuart phoned Nicky at the Swan Sanctuary. She came down to AQSC and between the two of them they managed to round up the three remaining chicks. Two looked reasonably healthy but the third was much smaller and would not have lasted very long. The fourth one was found a few days later and it was also picked up by the Nicky.