It wasn’t just my bird watching chums that were distressed by the incident involving travellers dogs, swimming out and frightening off the nesting swans at Eling Quay recently.

Over the years, the swans have been a very popular sight at Eling and especially when they produce cygnets.

The good news is that two weeks on, a swan has been spotted back on the nest. It illustrates just how hard it can be for ground nesting birds to successfully breed and raise the next generation.