A SWAN and her four young cygnets have been rescued from the Forth and Clyde Canal after Bankies raised an alarm when a neighbouring male repeatedly tried to attack them.

Many Clydebank residents have been watching as a female swan, known as a pen, laid seven eggs and four hatched a few weeks back, with children and dog walkers feeding them.

The family had set up their nest near the Clyde Shopping Centre. But a neighbouring family also nested just a few hundreds yards along the canal, and the father, or cob, of the competing nest began attacking the rivals.

Ian Barr, a Clydebank resident, had been photographing the swans as they nested and the cygnets grew. He raised the alarm when he realised the young family was in danger.

After posting on Facebook to ask for advice, Ian called the Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre, near Beith, whose staff were able to save the mother, four cygnets and three eggs.

The cob from the vulnerable family could not be saved, as he had become defensive and aggressive after his young family came under attack from the more dominant male. It is expected he will now leave his nest and fly to find another bevy of swans.

Ian told the Post: “Myself and a number of other people had been looking out for the swans and I enjoyed taking pictures of them, but it became apparent that the dominant male from a neighbouring nest was trying to kill the family and take over the nest.

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“Anytime the family left the nest, he would try to invade it and kill the eggs, so the family needed to be rescued.

“The father of the less dominant family couldn’t fight the bigger male and the cygnets and female were also at risk.

“The family couldn’t move further down the canal, towards Whitecrook, as there was a third nest near the Linnvale bridge, so they would have been invading their space too and swans are very territorial.

“It’s a real shame they couldn’t take the male as he had tried to protect them, instead they saved the babies, eggs and mother.

“A lot of people have taken interest in them this year, it’s been great to watch the cygnets develop and I’m just glad they are safe now.”

The Post contacted Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre for an update on the swans’s development.

Gaynor Christie, from the centre, said: “The mum and four cygnets are doing fine, but the other eggs didn’t hatch.

“For the first few days we kept the family in a large shed and now they have access to the outside, they will shortly be moved to a larger grassy enclosure.

“If anyone would like to know about their progress, they can do so by following our updates on Facebook.”