Black Swan Cygnets

Its been school holidays and I've hardly seen Daughter E. Shes been mainly working on assisgnments and having the odd bit of time with friends. Today we had some time together.

We drove to our favourite place and found this family of three cygnets - remember they were 3 months old. Today they are nearly 5 months old. I think they're passed the ugly duckling stage as their feathers are forming and their beaks are turning red. There is a distinct colouring of the long neck turing black which is more prominent in the second image. When on land they would be approximately 3ft tall maybe a little taller. Their little legs are quite wobbly under the weight of there larger bodies, therefore they are not on land for long.

Sometimes we see them as a group of three, while other times there are two together and the third one elsewhere. The parents left them about a month ago as they are capable of finding food and defending themselves. Today they were nibbling the ends of the long willow branches drooping over the waters edge and feeding of anything the public had to offer.

We did catch a glimpse of our family of 4 younger cygnets, they are still around and looking good. Perhaps we will be able to blip them again soon.

Wonderful for Daughter E and I to have this time together, school starts again on Monday and in two weeks time Daughter A will return from Uni for Summer break - lasting 4-5 months, we look forward to having her at home again :)

Mum wishes to thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes from yesterday. She was overwhelmed and very touched and loved the beautiful pink camellia, thank you :))

The day has been overcast and very still - hope thats not a bad sign, we don't need anymore aftershocks! Might go and organise tea and then head out in the garden.

Friday tomorrow, another week gone, have a great end to the working week :))