Meet the Lions Park Beach swans – all lined up for a family photo, before one of them was swept away. Photos: Harrison Warne.
A summer run has kick-started a South Coast search to reunite a juvenile bird with its family.
Harrison Warne said the family – two parent swans and four juveniles – was sighted on Lions Park (Jiguma) Beach, near Pambula.
Despite dreary weather one morning, the South Coast-based filmmaker and ecologist headed out for his run.
“I could see the swans in the distance,” he said.
“I stopped to watch them, because I didn’t want to spook them … I didn’t want to push them towards the water, but they were heading towards the water themselves.
“Another man and I stopped to watch them. Another jogger then went past them, and they remained pretty unfazed.
“They would just continue their trajectory towards the water – and then eventually a pretty large wave came and basically swept them all in.”
He said three of the young swans (known as cygnets) were swept into the water.
“Because of the big swell, they were pushed out pretty far, pretty quickly … They were quite far out to sea – at least 100 metres from the beach.
“They seemed to be OK and weren’t attempting to come back to shore.”
He continued his run, but the following day he saw just one solitary swan with no others nearby.
Harrison called WIRES, waiting until the cygnet was collected and taken into the care of volunteer Vickii.
Meanwhile, lifeguards were able to collect the bird, taking it to their surf club so it was out of the summer sun.
“It was just exhausted. From what I saw, the swell was too big,” he said.
“I’d seen they’ve all been separated in the big swell and it’s lost its parents … it’s just been left behind.”
While its exact age is unknown, the cygnet still has grey feathers (it will gain black ones as an adult) and is unable to fly.
Since being rescued, he has been receiving updates on how the young swan is faring – and there’s some good news.
“It’s feeding, it’s drinking, it’s active, appears alert and healthy,” he said.
“I think Vickii’s done a really wonderful job of bringing it back … When I saw it, I wasn’t sure if it was going to make it or not.
“I think it had been in the sun for quite a long time, as well.”
While they were “going somewhere with purpose”, it’s unknown what exactly the swans were doing along the beach – or why they walked into the waves.
“That was such an interesting behaviour, one that I hadn’t seen before,” he said.
“I wanted to film it to show other people to get their opinion, see if that was normal behaviour. … They were reasonably far from the freshwater where they came from.
“They’ve walked a fair distance just to get to the beach!”
Harrison said South Coast wildlife rescuers had visited nearby waterways, in attempts to find the rest of the swan’s family.
“The more people look – especially in the parts of the lake that are harder to see from the Merimbula side, the better,” he said.
“There’s a good chance they’re tucked away in one of the little coves somewhere.”
Rescuers are searching for the family so they can reunite a cygnet with the group. Photos: Harrison Warne.
But without much luck, they’re now asking the public to also keep an eye out.
“I’ve also been actively searching, usually twice a day. … [I] look with binoculars to see if I can see the parents and the cygnets,” he said.
“If anyone sees two adults with one grey cygnet, then it’d be great to know about it, because we can get them back together.”
If you see a swan (or a group of them), call WIRES’ 24/7 assistance line on 1300 094 737.
