It all began when I went for a wheelie in my chair along the river path and saw these two swans sitting side by side. Swans are mostly in pairs, I believe they stay together for all their lives. A guy walked past with his wife and said he believes they were brooding. There was a collection of twigs below the smaller swan, probably the female. We were all surprised as it was at the side of a path where many people went for a walk.
This awoke my interest and I made a point of walking on this bank of the river to see if there was any progress. I noticed that a fence had now been erected around the swan pair, probably by the kind officials of our town, to let them have their peace and quiet. Often one swan would be swimming in the River Aare and the other staying on the nest.
On my last visit one swan was in the river and the other as usual brooding. However, brooding needs patience and now and again even a swan has to stretch her legs and change the position and then it happened. Of course I was ready with the camera and I saw the eggs, five of them. I had never seen a swan egg before and they are quite big.
Every year we have a swan family swimming along the river. Swan parents are devoted to their children, and look after them until they are almost fully grown. I am now looking forward to the day when I take a wheelie and see the little cygnets swimming with mum at the front and dad at the back.
A lovely family forming! Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
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I was so glad when the swan showed her eggs.
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Your town officials are kind, which is nice. Great timing and being able to see the eggs.
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It was really a good idea to protect the swans, but the swan babies are part of our picture in the Summer on the river. I was waiting for the chance to see the eggs,it was a wonderful experience.
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The nest looks smaller than the ones that the black swans here build but they are good parents too and very aggressive if someone goes too close to their family. I will look forward to seeing the cygnets too.
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The nest had been well protected by the authorities and thank goodness for the zoom lens on the camera
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This is exciting. First baby storks and now cygnets!
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At the next opportunity I will take a walk to see how it is progressing
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How lovely they are protecting the nest. So often the eggs get eaten by other birds or animals.
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And they were quick. it was only a day later that they built the protection
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