New flock of cygnets on Hampstead Heath attract queues of admiring visitors

A new flock of cygnets have hatched at the Highgate Bird Pond on Hampstead Heath.

Last month, the Ham&High reported a resident female swan was incubating an impressively large clutch of eight eggs this year. The first two hatched on Friday followed by another five on Saturday.

Later in the weekend the family took to the water for the first time under the watchful eye of the male swan.

Ron Vester, a professional photographer who documents wildlife on Hampstead Heath, said: “The swans at Hampstead Heath are the biggest attraction, and children have loved feeding them and seeing them bread for years.”

Meg Game, a City of London Corporation ecologist at Hampstead Heath, said: “The cygnets have calmly put up with the gaze of many admiring visitors. There was almost a queue to see them.”

One of the eight eggs remained dormant and has been abandoned by the female swan. The record number of cygnets was a few years ago when nine hatched.