...the mother swan is still incubating her eggs. All was calm when I took these photos at around noon, but when I passed by earlier in the morning, just before 9:30, things weren't so quiet. Both swans seemed quite perturbed as a small flock of geese had gatecrashed the scene and were trying to steal some of the nesting material.
I guess things were sorted out, because both swans seemed quite unflustered at midday. Here we see Daddy swan looking on from his station on the bank.
Here is another view of the nest in which we can also see the swans' next door neighbours, the coots in their nest.
I can't guarantee that I'm going to be passing by this spot any time soon, so don't know if I'll be able to get photos of the cygnets when they hatch. I'd dearly like to but am unsure if circumstances will allow.
It's been nearly a week since I've been to Oxford, and I was itching to visit again to see if the swans' eggs had hatched in the swans' nest near Folly Bridge. Here, pictured above, is the scene that greeted me today. An empty nest. The swans have gone - and I assume have taken their cygnets with them. I was really disappointed not to get to see the babies.
However, the coots in the next door nest are still there, and their egg(s) have hatched too! In the above picture we can just make out a chick (with a red beak) being fed.
Here's another new family out for a swim on the Thames.
At Isley Lock there were squadrons of ducks and geese to be seen, and watching these lovely fluffy-looking goslings almost made up for having missed seeing the cygnets.
Posts
