Proud mum

I met up with T at Blackford Pond to check up on the swan family and the rest of the bird life. There were seven cygnets today - one has been lost since Wednesday and I couldn't help wondering if it was the cygnet who had seemed stuck between two of the logs while trying to get back onto the island. Still, I suppose that seven cygnets is still a good-sized family. When I arrived, T had only been able to see three cygnets, which would have been a big loss, but it turned out that four of them were on mum's back! She reared up and flapped her wings, whereupon the four slid off into the water. I would love to see them getting onto her back. No baby coots yet, and it looked as if the second coot nest had been abandoned - maybe it got flooded. The moorhens are still disappearing into the reeds, so hopefully they will produce some chicks soon.

Mum and babies are better seen large.