i've been cooped in all day. tried to organize my drawers as i'm looking for a necklace that i know i keep around here and i just haven't seen it in a long time. i might have to resort to turning the whole apartment upside down if i don't find it by tomorrow.
that means i haven't time to go around (yet again) for photos. the weather is even so dull i just wasn't inclined to photograph the skyline. so resorting to something i found in the archives last night. this cob was scouting food for his lady pen who was tending the nest at the time. he approached me when i squatted to take a photo of him probably hoping i had food for him.
years ago when ex partner and i were still together, we befriended a couple of swans who were nesting at the pond near where we lived at the time. EP was rather amused that the female from the opposite side of the pond beelined straight at me when i sat down on the boardwalk. i started to talk to the swan like i would a real person and EP was excited that the swan was interacting with me. so even though it went against my principle to not feed wild animals with human food, the next time we came to the pond EP brought some day old bread and started feeding them. it then became a ritual for us to come and visit almost everyday. and every time we come, no matter that they were being fed by others, the cob and pen would immediately come to us.
when the couple's babies hatched, they always stayed in their side of the pond well away from everyone. one beautiful summer day, the pen was tending to her babies while the cob was interacting with people who were giving him food. when the cob saw me with my camera, he immediately swam to where i was and i spoke to him, to the amusement of people who probably thought i was nuts! EP gave him a few pieces of bread then he swam to the far side of the pond where his family was. to everyone's surprise, the couple gathered their five babies and swam directly towards us. people were gushing at the display of familiarity and the couple actually flanked the babies on either side so that they were directly in front of me and EP. when EP ran out of bread, the mother nudged her babies away towards the other end. it was incredible. by october, they were gone except for one of the cygnets. we supposed that because the cold had started to set in, they'd have migrated to wherever it was they go for the winter. we wondered though why the cygnet was left behind, him being the biggest of all the babies. however, the next spring, the couple didn't come back and every spring or summer that i passed by the pond, there was no longer any swan making their nest there.
