Last Wednesday morning a dog attacked the mother swan at the Art Pavilion Pond. Sadly despite being taken away to the Swan Sanctuary at Shepperton for treatment, the swan died a few days later early on Sunday morning from her wounds.

This pen (female) swan had been nesting on the Art Pavilion pond every year since about May 2017. That’s over 50 eggs. Every year, around late March to late May, countless park users have whispered to complete strangers by the pond “Has she laid any eggs yet?”, “How many eggs are there?”.

She would typically lay 6-9 eggs in a clutch, with news of the first hatchling eagerly anticipated. On that first night you’d often see a dozen or more park users gathered around with phones out to take a quick photo and WhatsApp it to friends. Some years all the eggs hatched, but sometimes, like last year, none did. 

We all began to appreciate how the first week or two after hatching were the most vital. One park user witnessed a seagull swooping in and taking a young cygnet. We’ve had fox attacks, worries about killer terrapins, and then there was the mysterious case of all the cygnets dying overnight in a thunderstorm.

As the years have gone by we’ve tried to load the dice in the cygnets favour with notices to dog owners, closing the island off and putting up Heras fencing near the nest. We’ve removed dead rats, dead birds and litter, checked water levels and quality. The cygnets have even been fed special nutritious floating swan food. Whilst this sounds like Marginal Gains Theory applied to swans, we have largely left them to do things as they have done for a millenia.

In 2025 seven eggs hatched in quick succession. Unfortunately within the first 24 hours one died, but then, what we thought was a sterile egg, hatched to bring the number back to seven. And what a magnificent seven they are. At first they could be seen tripping over each other’s webbed feet getting in and out of the nest. But as time has gone by they seem to have become more independent than most “year groups”. Often park users have been worried some are missing, only to be pointed to the “other two” or “other three” at the opposite side of the pond. All this drama has been played out in the pseudo-natural amphitheatre of the Art Pavilion Pond.

Thank you for all the memories Mother Swan. You’ll be sorely missed.

Mile End Park and the Friends of Mile End Park are incredibly grateful for the help the Swan Sanctuary has given us over the years. They have cared for our park swans on more than one occasion, and provided us with a huge amount of advice. If you would like to help support them in their work please consider giving them a donation