THE rescued Aubery Pond cygnets are growing well - but the mystery of their father is deepening after the mother rejected her ‘partner’.

Hessilhead’s removal of the three cygnets and their mother from Aubery Pond sparked anger among some locals when they left the father behind.

When the rescue centre tried to reunite the family it became apparent that the swan left at the pond was not the father or partner.

Hessilhead’s Andy Christie said: “We removed the female and three cygnets, after many local people showed concern for this family.

“There had been disappointment that great black-backed gulls were predating the cygnets.

“This of course is natural behaviour, but when only three cygnets were left, and one of them had an injured leg, we decided that taking the whole family into care for two or three weeks would give the young a better chance of survival.

“Had we only taken the injured cygnet, it would not have been possible to return this to the family when it recovered."

The male swan took to the water during the rescue and made no attempt to protect the young, to the surprise of the rescuers.

Andy added: “A few days later Hessilhead returned to catch the male swan after local people had given us his ring number.

“He was the only swan present, and his number matched that we’d been given.

“However, when he was put into the enclosure with the female swan and cygnets, she attacked him - it clearly wasn’t her mate.

“Further enquiries revealed an interesting situation - we were sent photos of the male and female swan while she was still incubating eggs and the male wasn’t ringed.

“We cannot know for sure why this male swan left the family, we heard that another pair of swans had flown into the territory, and there had been a bit of squabbling.

“It is possible that the father of the cygnets went off with the incoming female, leaving the lonely male swan behind.

“Swans are not as peaceful and faithful as people like to believe, and we certainly don’t understand all their behaviour."

It's not known when the family will be back at Aubery.

Andy said: “At present the female swan and her cygnets are still at Hessilhead but the cygnets are growing well.

“We need reliable information that no other swans are using this territory before returning them while the cygnets are still dependent on their mother for protection.”