Education is key to keeping Marlow's swan population intact, according to the Queen’s royal officials after this year’s swan census reaped “disappointing” results.

Teams in royal red blazers returned to the Marlow stretch of the River Thames on Wednesday for the historical Swan Upping, to perform a census of the town’s feathered friends.

They rowed from Marlow Bridge to Henley-on-Thames in royal skiffs and “upped” any cygnets out of the water to weigh them and assessed them or illness or injury.

The Queen’s Royal Swan Marker David Barber said the week-long census had been disappointing so far, as swan numbers were down due to illness, vandalism and dog attacks in recent years.

He said: “We have been quite short on cygnets compared with last year. It has been a bit disappointing.

“We have had a lot of dog attacks on the birds which have caused a lot of problems as well as bird viruses.

“Birds have left in one or twos where as last year they were leaving in threes and fours. We have also had a few shootings.

“We don’t want the swan population to suffer, it is important we keep the numbers at a reasonable level.”

The tradition dates back to the 18th century when swans were highly prized for their meat – but now the focus is on conserving the population.

Mr Barber says he is passionate about educating the younger generations about swans and hopes this will enable the population to increase.

Children from St Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Prospect Road, and Cookham Dean Primary School, Bigfrith Lane, joined Mr Barber at the Compleat Angler to help kick off the third day of the census.

After a brief talk about the reasons and history of the swan upping, children got the chance to stroke an orphaned cygnet.

Mr Barber continued: “Last year we had 83 cygnets and 124 the year before.

“The thing we can do going forward is educating. We have a couple of schools here today so we can teach them about the river and the boats we use.

“We can teach them about the conservation side. It is all about education – the world would be a strange place without any birds.”

The swan upping runs from Monday, July 18 to Friday, July 22 which sees the royal skiffs row from Sunbury to Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

This is the second year Cllr Bob Johnson has attended the Swan Upping as mayor of Marlow.

He said: “It is wonderful. It is great that this tradition has been retained. It is so important that the conversation of these birds is maintained.”