Spring has finally sprung at Abbotsbury Swannery as the first swan egg of the year was laid - and just in time for Easter.

The extra special egg was discovered in the afternoon of Thursday, March 22.

Swanherd Steve Groves said: “It’s always nice to see and in the coming weeks there will be more and more. Hopefully the first week of April we’ll really see the laying season kicking off.”

He added it was difficult to predict when the eggs would hatch until the swans had laid a full clutch and began to nest.

“They only lay an egg every other day and they don’t start to incubate the eggs until the whole clutch is laid.

“It’s a common misconception that once an egg has been laid it has to be kept warm. But if left, the egg goes into a dormant state and it can stay like that for months. Once the swan has a full clutch she will start to sit on them and that way she can ensure they all hatch on the same day.”

Steve added the average clutch size was five but the national record was a baker’s dozen - thirteen eggs.

“It’s often difficult to tell as some swans will lay in another swan’s nest, so a large clutch could actually be the work of more than one female. But we think we’ve had a natural clutch of twelve at the swannery,” he said.

Traditionally, the hatching of the first cygnet at Abbotsbury marks the official start of summer.

The Swannery was established by Benedictine Monks who built a monastery at Abbotsbury during the 1040s. The monks farmed the swans to produce food for their lavish Dorset banquets.Today, Abbotsbury is home to the world’s only colony of nesting Mute Swans.

Currently there are around 500 swans at Abbotsbury but this will double by late summer.

The swannery was hit with bird flu during the winter months but Steve said there had been no new cases since January and now winter was over, they hoped there would not be any more.

“We’ve been given the all clear and had two whole months of nothing. There will continue to be tests done but we don’t expect any more trouble.”