Summer with all its heady abundance of life is here! The sun is bright, the breeze is gentle and the Great River Ouse is teeming with couples parading newborns up and down its lush green banks. Little signets, ducklings and tiny coots serenely learn to navigate the tranquil river under the supervision of their parents.

Survival is slim even in the best circumstances, but parents’ misjudgment of the river’s current does not improve the chances. This morning a swan couple, who live upstream with seven signets, ventured too close to the weir’s treacherous edge. Two hapless signets were washed over the side. Their sudden plummet into the river below did no immediate harm, except they were now separated from the safety of their parents with zero chance of surviving on their own.

Nicola and I, with our dogs, had just begun our morning walk when we came upon the two signets bobbing in the water alone. Peter, with his dog, joined us on the lock. Quickly doing a headcount of the upstream and downstream swan families we put two and two together without a moment to spare, for within minutes of surviving going over the edge, the signets were under attack by the downstream male swan. Clearly shaken and frightened, the pair tried frantically to swim back the way they had come, only to discover that the way was blocked by a waterfall pounding down on them over a solid wall. We watched helplessly as the swan chased the terrified pair towards the reeds in the center of the river. One managed to escape deep into the thick reeds while the other made a desperate dash for the shore with the swan in hot pursuit. Before reaching the shore he suffered a painful peck on his neck from his pursuer. Stumbling ashore, he desperately ran towards the safety of the tall brush.

Instantly, I sprang into action and continued the chase on land through the chest high undergrowth, which included painful stinging nettles. Cooing what I prayed would be a comforting sound, I plucked up the pitiful signet into my hands. He tried to warn me off with weak little hisses, but either from resignation to his fate or pure panic he did not squirm as I ran up the path to reunite him with his family. I had to maneuver past three large dogs, who were not responding to attempts to convince them that I did not need their assistance. Nicola found a place in the reeds near the water close to his swan family. Holding the little guy as carefully as I could, I crouched under the tree limbs and crawled the few feet to the water’s edge, launching him back to the safety of his family.

We turned our attention back to the second signet, who was nowhere to be found. Chatting excitedly about the morning’s adventure, the three of us headed with our dogs to the fields of Pocket Park. Toward the end of our walk we left our friend Peter and his dog as Nicola and I walked back beside the river to the lock. We wondered if we would spot the second signet.

“He’s there!” Nicola whispered, as she pointed to the reeds in the center of the river. Just past where the little signet hid on the other side of the river was a man in a dinghy. We looked at each other and a plan was hatched. Nicola remained with the dogs to keep an eye on the signet while I ran to the other side to convince the man to join us in saving the signet. I regret that I did not get his name.

He was willing to join in and off we motored to where Nicola waited. At her signal we cut the engine and rowed until the little signet gradually came into our view. We instantly frightened the bird. We chased him around the reeds to the opposite side of the river, which is bounded by a wall for boat dockage. It was impossible for the signet to climb up on this man-made barrier. Quickly we realized that plucking him out of the water would not be as easy as it was his sibling on dry land. The man with the boat came up with the brilliant idea of using the lock to transport the signet to the other side of the weir. Now all we had to do was get the distraught signet into the lock.

By now other dog walkers were gathering on the shore. On land Nicola with pups in tow chased the signet in the direction of the lock while we used the boat and oars to break off his route to the open river. It worked. The signet went into the lock. Nicola and everyone else started to crank closed the massive wooden gates of the lock before the signet could swim out. Luckily, the man in the boat also had the key to open the upstream gate of the lock.

As soon as no one was chasing him the little signet calmed down. The fact that the water level was gradually rising did not seem to faze him much as he floated contentedly, preening his downy fluff. I guess compared to the rest of his morning that was nothing really. The lock takes quite a while to fill up, during which we debated how to get the signet out of the lock. We all agreed that following him in with the dinghy would have been best, but it was too late for that. Since the little guy wanted nothing to do with the dogs we stood at the downstream end allowing him to position himself near the exit. Once the lock was open, we started to shoo him out by raising our arms and walking towards the gate. That managed to wedge him frantically hissing into a corner of the lock. Nicola retrieved one of the oars from the dinghy. One look at the terrifying oar was all it took for the signet to swim out of the lock.

Instantly he recognized where he was. He let out a little peep and wagged his tail. He was home. We left him calling for his family who by now had wandered up the river. Even though I could not see him reunited I walked home satisfied that at least we gave him a chance by attempting to rectify the impact that humans have on his environment.

Later Steve and I took a walk with Kee-Wa to find out if the signet had indeed found his family. Sure enough, near the lock was the swan couple with all seven signets.

I live in a charming village in England.