St Ives swans saved by man who built raft make him 'proud'

A man who built a raft to save a swan's nest of eggs said he felt "so proud" watching the cygnets grow up.

Rob Adamson had kept an eye on the female swan for 10 years in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, and had seen her eggs destroyed by floods and foxes.

He built a raft at Jones Boatyard, where he lives and works, to save the latest nest in May and eight of the eggs later hatched.

Five swans survived and Mr Adamson still watches over them.

Soon after hatching, the family moved out of the marina and set up camp a little way downstream, he said.

"It is so lovely watching them grow up. I keep an eye on them and whenever they see me, they swim over to my boat and do a greeting.

"The parents are always happy to see me and I think the babies recognise me from when I sat guarding the nest. People underestimate how clever swans are."

He said the mother had previously been "the unluckiest swan" and he was "determined" to make sure her babies hatched, which was like "winning the lottery" when it happened.

He said the runt of the litter "sadly died" on the first day and two others died because the flow of the river was so strong.

"The rest are a good size now and they all seem really well," he said.

Mr Adamson, 42, who lives on a narrowboat at the boatyard off the River Great Ouse, built a fence to keep foxes out and made the raft in the dark when he noticed the water was lapping around the swan's nest.

Known locally as "the swan man", he previously raised an abandoned cygnet called Sid and tried to release him into the wild, but he kept coming back.

He said the family would stay together until mating season, next spring.

"I just feel so proud watching them, knowing I played a little part in them being here. I feel a strong attachment to them and I will carry on watching over them and making sure they are ok," he said.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk