First mute swan cygnets hatch at river since 2023

A valley has welcomed its first mute swan cygnets since 2023.

A new pair of adults arrived in the Ouseburn, Newcastle, last year, but a high spring tide flooded the female's nest and eggs.

Wild Intrigue, a wildlife group, said higher tides were becoming more common so they built the swans a temporary floating platform on the burn to protect any future eggs.

Now co-director Heather Devey said the platform had been a success, with seven eggs hatching as of Friday.

After the vacant year in 2024, Devey said they had been "dead excited" in 2025 when a new pair arrived and started to nest on the slipway near The Cluny.

And all was going well until the tide flooded the nest.

"We didn't want that to happen again and obviously with the change in climate we are getting higher spring tides," Devey said.

"We want to be able to have these birds on the burn."

This year, when the spring tides came, the female swan was nesting on the temporary floating platform enabling her eggs to survive.

Devey said: "We're in the heart of a post-industrial landscape, so there's no natural banks for them anymore.

"But that doesn't mean we can't retrospectively fit an imitation of some of these natural habitats," she said, adding the floating island had also been used by ducks and moorhens.

"So there's all this other life that can establish successfully with these additional habitats that we could put in," Devey said.

The cygnets could be introduced to the burn within a couple of days of hatching, so Devey said Wild Intrigue had been working towards creating a safe environment for them.

Temporary signs have been installed to ask people to give the swans extra space and keep dogs on leads.

But Devey said the most important one was not feeding them at the nest as it could attract rats.

"Rats are clever, they'll take the food put down for the swans, but they might also take a cygnet at the same time," she said.

Ouseburn is an area with high footfall due to the pubs, restaurants and nearby farm, so Devey said it was necessary to help the family develop.

"We love Ouseburn because you've got this mix of people enjoying a day out in the sun and then you've got this amazing wildlife everywhere as well," she said.

"But it is important that we find a balance or we'll lose it."

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