Mute Swan terretorial behaviour

Two days ago I posted a humorous  image of the Marazion Marsh Mute Swans stating how close they are,  Well looking at the first image below butter would not melt in their mouths!! and they constantly renew their bonds in this heart shaped gesture,

But the fact of the matter is that they rule the roost at the marsh with a very aggressive attitude to all comers such as the pair of younger swan that flew in Pm today onto the marsh warren,  Just look at the body language of the male as he exits the water to expel them,

He gave chase immediately and the larger of the two incomers managed to take off again but the second lost its footing down a rabbit burrow and the aggressive male attacked with out hesitation.

This second bird eventually managed to struggle free and should have taken off but in its panic it ran up towards the boundary just a metre in front of me calling and looking for its mate which circled twice trying to tempt the other into flight,

This is not the first time that I have witnessed this aggressive behaviour from the resident male but I waited to see how things developed,   With the intruder trapped by the boundary wall the male went straight on the attack flying in and knocking it over and climbing on top rendering it helpless,  The intruder offered no defence as the resident male pecked at its eyes and head,

This merciless assault is not something that you can stand by and watch for long and would certainly have ended up in the death of the intruder so I was over the wall and waded in to separate them,  The younger bird was in shock and stayed prostrate on the ground as I chased the resident male back off to the waterline,  I hopped back over the wall and kept an eye on both birds until sunset

I walked back along the marsh and met Rod Farnes another wildlife photographer and as I related what had happened with the Swan, we could both see the resident male starting to move back towards the still prostrate intruder,  no doubt with the intention of finishing what it had started,  Thankfully Rod said that he would go along and watch out for the younger swan and I went off home running late and feeling a bit uneasy.