Chaperone safely returns cygnets to nest pond in Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath’s latest litter of swan cygnets were guided back to their nest pond with the help of a patient chaperone. 

Caroline Hauser, who has watched the swan pair she calls Molly and Augustus for the last five years, noticed they and their two-month-old cygnets were stuck between ponds, after leaving the previous spot where they nested.  

After two hours Caroline was able to successfully coax the swan family back to their nest, where the cygnets rested not long after. 

Caroline said: “This is the first time I’ve got them back sitting. It’s exhausting because there’s only so many ways of getting them from A to B, and as soon as you go you think: ‘Is a dog going to attack the cygnets?'” 

Six cygnets were born on May 3 this year, but only six remain after two disappeared and two were eaten by pike in the ponds.

“I spent two hours enticing them, but we just gave up,” Caroline said. "As soon as I gave up they decided to cross.” 

Catherine, who chaperoned from the back of the group, said: “I was nervous that the swans would be protective, but they seemed pretty chilled.”    

Caroline added: “There was one girl who said: ‘This is the best birthday ever because I got to walk behind the swans.'”