White bread - a definite no no for swans

There has been great concern over recent weeks over one particular cygnet on the marina who really has not been blossoming like the rest of its siblings.

Two or three of our boaters had commented on its flight feathers, or should I say lack of flight feathers and had noticed it was becoming more isolated from the rest of its family.  Their concern prompted a call to the RSPCA who wasted no time in coming out to take a look.

According to the inspector, our cygnet has something called Angel Wings which means that as it was growing and developing it was fed too much bread (especially white bread) which has resulted in its flight feathers becoming deformed as it has matured meaning Gabriel as he/she has since been christened will never be able to fly.  The RSPCA inspector did say that Angel Wings is becoming an increasingly regular occurrence.  However he assured us that Gabriel is not in any pain, and could expect to live a long life, even so for this particular newcomer to the marina it is all really rather sad.  Needless to say, Gabriel has won our hearts