No more swanning around for Blackie
A LOVESICK swan has stopped pining after rescuers recaptured her mate.
The Australian black swan cob – called Blackie – took flight from the lakes at JCB World Headquarters in Rocester after being startled by the arrival of a pair of white swans.
He was rescued after a member of the public rang JCB to report a sighting of the bird on the River Dove, near Sudbury.
Blackie's mate sensed his return and, even though they have yet to be reunited, has now stopped pining.
The flyaway swan was caught on Monday by JCB security operations manager Steve Blyth, who looks after the 36 different breeds of wildfowl on the JCB lakes.
Following the tip-off, he headed to the river with three helpers – daughter Jenny, aged 21, former JCB employee Mick Reynolds, of Rocester, and his grandson Ashton, 12.
But as Steve swung a net from the river bank to rescue the errant swan the bird attempted another getaway, pulling Steve off the riverbank, down an eight foot drop and into the water.
Luckily the Australian black swan's break for freedom failed and he was brought home.
He is now in a quarantine pen awaiting veterinary checks before being reunited with his mate on the JCB Lake.
Steve said: "We were concerned because we thought we had lost him. He had been missing for nearly two weeks. We had several sightings from members of the public, but we could not find him.
"Swans mate for life and all the time he was missing, his mate was pining. It is a very distinctive call, you could hear her all night long.
"She came to the fence when we returned and she knows he is back. She has stopped pining."
He added: "We had a call at 6.45pm on Monday night from a Doveridge resident who had spotted the swan on the River Dove so we headed straight out there.
"When we arrived I whistled in the customary way I use to call in the birds for feeding and he came straight to me as my daughter Jenny held out some food. I swung a net to capture him but missed the first time. The second time I was successful but he pulled away and because swans are so strong and I was not going to let him go, I got dragged into the water.
"It was worth getting wet for because he is now safely back home at JCB."
Steve thanked the media, members of the public and local farmers for helping find Blackie and enabling him to be rescued.
Daughter Jenny, a receptionist at Alton Towers Hotel, added: "The swan knows me and I was calling to him so my Dad could catch him."
Blackie and his mate are one of three pairs of Australian black swans on the lakes at JCB's World Headquarters in Rocester and are popular with visitors.
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THE RESCUERS: Former JCB employee Mick Reynolds with Blackie.
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