I’m just swanning around in the pink (From Swindon Advertiser)

I’m just swanning around in the pink

11:24am Friday 27th January 2012 in Local

THEY may normally be a pearly shade of white, but a swan at Coate Water has turned a more rosy shade.

One of the swans, which is part of a bevy by the diving board, has been turning heads with its newly pink feathers.

But Coate Water ranger, Michael Lilley, said the sight is not down to pranksters.

“It is just a bit of blood. It’s like a scab on a spot. It’s where its feathers have either dropped out or they have been pulled out by another swan. At this time of year it is quite mild and the feathers will molt a bit,” he said.

“They are starting to show off to get some mates and that one probably got a bit too close. It is totally natural and it happens. It should wash off over the next few days.”

Michael said they usually see two or three swans a year looking pink.

“It happens to other birds as well, it’s just that swans are white,” he said.

Bird watcher and wildlife enthusiast, Tony Martin, 67, of Stratton, was looking at the swan yesterday. He said: “I noticed it on Wednesday, I thought it was food dye. I come out here most mornings and I always check on them. I have rescued a couple in the past because they had line on them,” he said.

The swan was spotted by a 62-year-old man, of Old Town, who did not want to be named.

“It is really weird to look at,” he said.