Psilos Bird Photography |
A mute swan family Page 2 |
Whilst the female is busy finding food
for the family the male is busy keeping watch. During the incubation
period the male spent alot of time away from the female, sometimes going
quite some distance away from her, but now he never leaves their side
and is ever vigilent. |
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Many people walking their dogs alongside
the waters edge do not pose a threat but an unsuspecting Canada
Goose strays far too close for comfort. |
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After having successfully seen off the
canada goose the male Swan just has to reassert himself as the strongest
and biggest male on the lake. With powerful wings outstreatched and
snorting loudly he reclaims his supremacy. |
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There are actually two lakes at the lodge.
There is the smallest lake, upon which the swans nest and often
feed and there is the largest lake which holds the majority of the
geese and ducks as well as the main island upon which most of these
birds breed. When returning to the nest side in the evening from
the largest lake the swan family has to cross the main footpath.
This is fraught with danger for the young cygnets but as always
the parents are there to guide and protect them. With the female
in front and the male behind they successfully cross to the other
side. |
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Whilst they are still young they will all roost under mums wing at the nest site. However, it wont be long before they have grown too big to fit. Nature can be very beautiful but it can also seem very cruel. Last year this female swan lost all but one of her cygnets to a very large pike. This year the five foot pike was sadly hunted down and destroyed so the cygnets now have a better chance of survival. This year the first cygnet was lost to the actions of a very selfish human being. Cygnets although they look cute do not make good pets and once taken can never be returned to their family for they will be rejected. A bird sanctuary became his home and so the family have now been reduced to five.... |
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By the end of the second week in June there
are still five cygnets and they are now nearly three weeks old. They
have lost that cute fluffy appearance. They are greyer and are starting
to grow quite fast. They are all still very much a family unit, staying
very close together as they feed. One bright sunny morning they set
off out onto the largest lake with the male, as always following on
behind. This time they stop in some shallow water and the cygnets practise
upending whilst looking for food. |
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I love their expressions as they watch
what their siblings are doing. The eager anticipation that the other
cygnet might appear with something truely interesting is wonderful to
watch. Now that they are older the adults take them out onto the grassbanks
to graze. Shortly a food source of a very different kind appears and
the adults take the cygnets to feed. Concerns that the cygnets will
eat too much dry bread and find it hard to digest however, are unfounded.
The adult swans have shown me that they are very wise parents indeed.
Only a small amount of the bread is taken before the adults lead the
cygnets back to the lush grass leaving the rest of the bread to the
mallards and gulls. |
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The end of another day for this family and they head off back to the nest site. At nearly three weeks old and still five cygnets remaining this pair of Swans are doing very well indeed. Who knows what the next few weeks will bring as there are still many dangers out there and still many lessons that they have to learn. |
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