Swan babies and more! Woohoo!
We went from watching the lovely Trumpeter swan on her nest to them suddenly them disappearing the first week of June! I looked all up and down the swamp, saddened, thinking they might have lost the eggs, or babies (called Cygnets). Did you know a female swan is called a Pen. The term “pen” is derived from the way the female swan holds her wings back, which resembles a penned enclosure. Male swans are called cobs due to the knob on his beak. This comes from the old German term “Knopf” meaning knob. The term “cob” is also associated with the Middle English word “cobbe,” meaning leader of a group, which could relate to the cob’s role in defending the nest and young. 🙂…and then….:)
I caught a glimpse of white on the far swamp! Our swans and three baby swan nuggets! I bushwhacked through the tall grass and over rocks for a few hundred feet in an adjacent field to get a closer look, it was drizzling and I was soaked! I was so happy! As I walked back towards the Long Lake road, they were rolling the newly spread gravel, the driver was taking a smoke break as the huge gravel trucks rolled by me I caught a flash of yellow. I have a white plastic garbage bag I use as my waterproofing, I thought for sure as I pulled it off the camera, that spot of yellow was going to fly away…
but no! Even the gravel trucks didn’t bother him!
A ray of sunshine on a rainy day! A Beautiful Yellow Warbler. Some days are just perfect!
So the ritual is check the swamp every day and fingers crossed there are still three babies out there! Last year they started with three or four and only one survived. Eagles? Raccoons? Who knows! Killer fawns;) Just kidding…
Walking out the road each day gives you a glimpse into natures ever changing world. As I was walking I ran into the two lovely gentlemen staying in the cottage next door. They told me a fawn had just walked out in front of their car and had laid down in the grass beside the road! I kept walking, looking each way and eventually in the tall grass, a few feet from the road, I spied a spotted brown circle. It was so tiny, still had the blue eyes, so very young. I could have picked it up with one hand it was so small. It didn’t move and I kept my distance as I admired this gorgeous little creature.
Just a heads up to everyone traveling on small gravel and cottage roads…slow the F*CK down! This baby was two feet off the road….I can’t tell you how many arseholes blow past me on the Long Lake road way over the 50 km an hour. In a hurry, to get to your cottage to …relax? Get off your f…ing phone as well! I took two beautiful gray rat snakes off the road yesterday, run over….It was such a wee baby, so well hidden! We had to go back out later and I was happy to see it gone, hopefully reunited with mother!
I might have leapt out of the car before it actually stopped moving when I spied these three swan nuggets right beside the road on Monday. They have been hovering in the far end all last week! Mother and Father were busy feeding right in the corner by the mailboxes! I said hello and welcome back to the family as soon as I reached the swamp edge. They were not bothered by my presence at all, yeah, camera lady…;) Mother and father were paddling with their feet to bring up edibles from the bottom of the swamp, really fascinating to watch those big paddles go!
So I’ll keep checking every time I walk out or we drive by! Such a wonderful opportunity to watch the family grow! How lucky are we?! I’ll leave you with the doe and her two fawns…wandering round the edge of the swamp as well, eating! I’ll catch up tomorrow on the amazing dragonflies and other birds and bees and…yes, there will be a canoe shot or two;) Ha! Saludos amigos, hasta mañana!
Great shots of the swans!! They’re always at the far end of the pond when I go by.
It’s really hit and miss where they are! I did do a flying leap out of the car as Mike was stopping they were so close! The grass is growing so high it’s hard to find a spot to shoot through as well!