In Spring last year the local horse farm had a new arrival at the pond. There were two black swans. I was searching through my photos yesterday and discovered that some of my swan photos had disappeared into the wrong section where I keep trucks and tractors. I must have had a sleepy moment.

I am always on a quest for some closeups of the duck/swan population and it seems I had them, but stowed away in the wrong place.

I was a pair of black swans and I was pleased to see that I did actually capture them with my camera. I had really forgotten these photos.

Pairs of swans rarely stay on their own and one day they were accompanied by their cygnets.

And as time passed, mum and dad swan took the kids for a walk to show them the other birds-

And the cygnets began to grow, although still stayed with mum and dad.

And eventually there was a whole family of black swans. Mum and dad are still there and I see them now and again, but the kids no longer. The last time I saw the cygnets  they were no longer such white fluffy balls but had began to get their black feathers although a little mixed with some white. They are probably now in their own ponds and will be fulfilling their quest this year to build their own family.

I had never seen black swans before, only on Australian stamps. As a kid I would collect stamps from other countries, and was always fascinated by these swans. It took many years, but last year I saw a complete family growing up just across the road.

RDP Wednesday: Quest