TWO swans have suffered violent deaths and one is recovering from a gun shot to the head– just days after the Queen's officials carried out an annual census on the River Thames.

On Friday afternoon a male bird, which had been examined and weighed during Swan Upping (see video in related articles), was crushed by the gates of Marlow lock.

Then on Sunday afternoon, witnesses claim to have seen a group of men deliberately plough into another swan on their boat in the river by the Compleat Angler Hotel.

Another of the white feathered creatures was shot in the head at Ham Island, Windsor the same weekend.

Wendy Hermon, from the Swan Lifeline Rescue Centre, said the swan is still alive after being picked up with a shot to the back of the head, which they think is from an air gun.

She said: “It is not out of the woods at the moment. It is on a drip. It seems to have shown an improvement since the weekend. It missed its vital parts- it is to the lower part of the head.”

The bird caught in the lock was the father of a young family, who may now struggle to survive, according to the Queen's Swan Marker David Barber.

The family, with three young cygnets aged only a week old, were assessed for injury and disease by Mr Barber and his team during Swan Upping last week.

“It's quite tragic when something like this happens, and it is even worse when a whole family of swans is affected,” Mr Barber said.

The bird had been fed by a group on a boat by the lock, but had tried following the vessel through the gates.

Mr Barber said it was a “very unfortunate" accident.

But he asked river goers to help avoid a repeat.

“People should never feed swans by a lock; it's dangerous because the birds will follow them in," he said.

Mrs Hermon said the female mate is thought to be the one of the oldest birds on the Thames and is thought to be between 15 and 20-years-old.

She added that she seems to be doing ok by herself at the moment.

The incident on Sunday, however, was an entirely different matter, Mr Barber said.

He said: “A small boat with three people in it ran over a swan and killed it, outside The Compleat Angler Hotel.

“It was quite horrific.”

Mr Barber said he would be speaking to police about the incident and that there are a number of witnesses who have spoken to the charity Swan Lifeline – a sanctuary for the birds.

But police said they are not investigating and no arrests have been made.

Officers attended the hotel on Sunday evening after a call which initially suggested a swan had been hit and killed.

But a lock keeper has told Thames Valley Police a group in a dinghy had actually been trying to recover the body of the bird, which had already died of natural causes.

Numbers of the birds between Cookham and Marlow were already found be lower this year, amidst the outbreak of a virus in the population.

The Environment Agency confirmed Friday's accident.

Matt Carter, Waterways Operations Manager said: "This appears to be a very sad accident.

"Unfortunately the swan dived into the gate mechanism and was crushed."

“We have worked with our partners and local wildlife organisations to ensure that the cygnets have been reunited with their mother."