Shame mum isn't as sharp as I'd like because I can't leave out the little one learning to preen. There are seven altogether - I am assuming that they are laid on successive days and then hatch in the same order (@lucypics will tell me I'm sure) - which must make for tricky times when one chick is more mature than the others. Having said that, swans at least are very successful and we have one or two pairs that have raised 13 cygnets.
Three GT:
1. I did some very effective multi-tasking and we now have fence posts and choc ices.
2. Scruffball from yesterday was not wet - just exhausted. They turned up en famille today and the very large chicks were sitting around demanding food (I almost got a great shot but was foiled by the wind).
3. My mum's getting her second eye fixed - she said the last time she went there was a lady fussing over her elderly father. He kept saying, 'I can manage by myself.' When he went off to the gents she told mum she hadn't been expecting him to be quite so active once he'd turned 100. Made my mum feel very young!
Instant fav, and yes I do know. Eggs are laid every day until a clutch of about 12. However the eggs are not incubated until the clutch is complete so they all hatch within hours of each other. Nature is so clever. Inbetween laying the eggs, she will usually cover the nest with leaves, feathers and waits until ready.
@lucypics that is SO cool - thank you. So the other nests I've been watching probably had half clutches in and the eggs hidden because the swans suddenly weren't sitting on them any more. Fab!
@shutterbugger she was in an inlet on the other side of the river and daddy swan was upstream. When they get out and about on the water the parents an be pretty aggressive, especially where the rowing crews are active. With good reason as rowers can make rapid inroads in to a family of cygnets but the river conservators have relocated a particularly aggressive male. I think they should have left him and told the rowers to take more care myself!
Love your title! A beautiful shot. The direction of lighting is quite effective here. I plan on visiting some this week I always struggle with the contrast shooting swans on a sunny day.
it is a beautiful shot judith , with regards to the swan, it doesn't need to be fully in the frame, the shot works just as well if you crop just above the wing. Less is sometimes more !
What a beautiful capture love the sunlight highlighting the downy softness of each little cygnet. Re incubation, my ducks, hens, turkeys all do the same thing lay their clutch of eggs, cover them with what ever material is available around the nest and then when the laying process is finished the incubation process starts so all hatch together. The ducks keep gathering material over the 28 day period and build the nest higher and higher as the days pass and the eggs are extremely hard to see when Mum is off the nest.
@phil_howcroft I would probably have gone with just the cygnets but I'd already cropped in quite a bit so I would have lost quality - hence fuzzy swan!
@ubobohobo I may have missed my chance this year but I'm going to look harder at the 'empty' nests in future. I feel a bit bad that I thought the mothers had lost the plot when actually they were being very clever! Thanks so much for the info.
