The Christleton swans in early June 2003 before leaving the Pit Photo: Lyn Malkin

Our swans have done it again. Not only have our resident pair walked their cygnets to the canal, but another pair took over their nest site within an hour of them leaving, as happened last year. What is amazing about all this is that the new pair must have be flying around the area waiting for the other pair to move out. Otherwise how do they know that the pit is free for them! Our resident pair probably had seven cygnets, with five surviving at the time of their walk. One is much smaller than the others, but they appear to be healthy, and broke the world speed record for swans between the Ring O Bells Car Park and Quarry Bridge, much to the amusement of all who witnessed it. Later that morning they appeared on the canal bank outside my house in Rowton, inviting people to think I had actually persuaded them to move. David Cummings