Anyone swanning about in the next few days has been asked to tweet any sightings of new born cygnets.

The Canal & River Trust wants people in West Yorkshire to share images of cygnets they encounter on the waterways.

The initiative will report the public’s first sightings of breeding pairs, their nests and then their young, while the Trust’s ecologists will follow the progress of a number of breeding pairs and their cygnets through to the autumn. They will provide regular blog updates, photos and video via Twitter and on the charity’s website.

People can follow the project at canalrivertrust.org.uk/ swan-story and can tweet their own updates and photos using #swanstory.

A chosen breeding pair of swans will also be tweeting their day-to-day ‘birds eye’ views and experiences of raising a swan family at @SwanThoughts.