I had to drive Sam to Warwick early this morning for his 'Brass Attack', the band he plays in at school's, practice.
I took my camera in the hope of visiting Farnborough lake on the way home. I haven't been there for a while and wanted to find out if the pair of swans who live there had had any cygnets this year. When I was about 150 yards away from the lake who should I encounter processing along the lane towards me but the swans with a little cygnet. It seemed like such a strange thing for them to be doing and I was really worried that they were going to be run over. So of course I turned around, drove back to them, parked and took some photos.
When they came to the first gateway, they ducked under it into a field and started to head back in the direction they had come from towards a lake that is effectively right across the road from the one they had come from. For the whole time I was watching the parents kept their baby between them.
The poor cygnet must have been exhausted and when it was walking through the field towards the new lake it kept stumbling over the long grass it was walking through. I would love to know what the reason was for them deciding to up uproot themselves and take their long and potentially perilous journey. After I had taken the pics I drove back to the original lake in the hope of seeing some of the ducks there with their babies. It was remarkably quiet. No ducklings and only three mallards where I would normally have expected to see about ten times that number. Who knows what is going on? Possibly big pike or foxes causing havoc.
How sweet! I was watching swans and their cygnets on the lake this morning and they were watching me and hissing a lot! Needless to say, I didn't get any closer and was actually a bit scared. Great capture.
This is a lovely picture Jan....walking along like that & the cow parsley too. Only one baby do you think, doesn't seem many, could be a predator that is causing havoc as you say.
We have a pair of swans which have a nest in the same place every year by a small pond next to the main road. When they are hatched after a week or so they embark on this long journey over the fields, usually through longish grass, as it's before silo time, up the river bank & over onto the river itself.
Delightful scene, the signet looks quite young. They must have lost several I this brood. I am not sure whether such diminishing duckling numbers is usual, or whether it is because I am noticing since visiting rivers much more with the pressure of 365 but every duck I see has none, or very few young. I think the fox population has got out hand to be honest since the fox hunting hoohaa but that is another story! Fav this is magnificent
Oh gosh, I love this. Great composition, and the way you caught the rear swan looking back over his shoulder, keeping an eye on you. He seems determined to keep this lone baby safe.
I feel so bad for that worn out little guy, being dragged around the countryside. I can only trust that the parents had a good swan-y reason for doing it. Hope they live long and prosper. :-)
Fav.
Only one baby too - maybe you're right about predators :0( when the kids were little I worked for a company that also had a base in Boston and one of my colleagues brought me the 'Make way for ducklings' book for the kids. Can't remember why the ducks were on the move but this reminds me of the story - they need a policeman to stop the traffic.
@lucypics Rachel saw a tiny gorgeous dead duckling on the river yesterday - possibly people messing about - she has terrible trouble with the Chinese tourists grabbing the ducks at the moment for some reason. She shouts at them!
@jantan@lucypics I felt a bit bad mentioning the nationality but nobody else does it. It could equally have been a British idiot chucking a beer bottle at it though...
June 26th, 2013
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We have a pair of swans which have a nest in the same place every year by a small pond next to the main road. When they are hatched after a week or so they embark on this long journey over the fields, usually through longish grass, as it's before silo time, up the river bank & over onto the river itself.
I feel so bad for that worn out little guy, being dragged around the countryside. I can only trust that the parents had a good swan-y reason for doing it. Hope they live long and prosper. :-)
Fav.