A cygnet rescued from a fence on Hampstead Heath [Louisa Green]

THE new born swan pictured at the top of the page was desperate to explore the big wide world – but quickly found themselves in trouble as mum and dad’s attention slipped for a moment.

But thankfully for a little cygnet, born this Spring on a Hampstead Heath pond, swan expert Louisa Green was on hand to help out.

The cygnet, one of seven in a brood reared on the Hampstead Number Two pond, had managed to get themselves tangled up in a fence.

Ms Green, who works at the Royal Free Hospital as a research scientist when she is not keeping an eye on the Heath’s swan families, said: “On Friday, at just 48 hours old, the cygnets of Hampstead No 1 pond found themselves stuck in the square fencing surrounding the reed beds.

“At this tiny size, the square fencing is not ideal because the cygnets are small enough to squeeze halfway through, but too big to go all the way and so cannot move backwards or forwards.”

Rescuer Louisa Green at the water’s edge and, below, trying to free the cygnet
[All rescue photos: Dianne Richards]

She was contacted by Heath walker Dianne Richards – the large and angry parents standing guard over their errant off spring were in no mood to let a stranger step in and help.

Ms Green added: “By the time I got there one cygnet had been stuck for nearly an hour and their head was already flopping into the water from the exhaustion of trying to free themselves. I pulled on my waders, faced furious 15kg Papa Swan and managed to push the trapped cygnet backwards through the fencing. In the panic, the little one did not understand and instead tried to repeatedly go through the fence again, so I managed to lift them up and over and return to Mum and Dad.”

The daring rescue was aided by a Heath ranger called Trilly.

Ms Green said: “Trilly calmly and confidently used my swan hook to keep Dad at bay. She dropped everything to help me late on a Friday evening without her, this rescue could have ended very differently.”