Monday, August 22, 2011

Mum, cob and cygnets.....!

Yesterday I went to Hyde Park with Aimee, mainly because she had been there on a picnic the day before and had spotted the illusive black swans that I had searched for before, apparently in all the wrong places..! The Black Swan (more) is our state emblem and is featured on the Western Australian flag and Coat of Arms, it has mainly black feathers but with white 'flight' feathers, would love to get a picture of that, and a bright red beak. It all looks calm in the picture but the male (cob) swan spent a lot of time noisily seeing off anything else that was in the water (ducks, coots, moorhens) if they dared to come near the chicks, he also, according to Wikipedia, whistles when disturbed breeding hmm!!  The swans are mainly herbivorous, I took a short video showing the way the adult swans plunge their heads under the water bringing up algae and aquatic plants for the chicks to feed, they were such fun to watch, a great little family....  p.s. crossing fingers the video works, it looks better if you make it full screen....!


29 comments:

  1. Beautiful birds. They make a lovely family. I enjoyed the little video too!

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  2. Nice family! I had no idea that they were a national emblem for you.

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  3. They are amazing. I have only seen them in a photo like yours.

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  4. That is honestly the most amazing contrast ever! Such a rare animal. I would love to photograph these swans. Nice Photo!

    Is that a stuffed animal in the water beside them?

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  5. tres belle photo de cette promenade en famille

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  6. Beautiful photo of the two black swans!! Video was fun to watch, also!

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  7. Awesome shot!
    have a nice week
    ciao
    Matteo

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  8. They are simply spectacular Grace. The red beak against the black plumage is startling.

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  9. They are indeed very regal gliding along the river. We are thinking alike at the moment Grace as I have also posted Black Swans over the past two days. I should give WA credit as the are your state emblem.

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  10. Great photo - I love the chicks too! Glad you were able to locate them today. I have posted a photo of one of our black swans on my blog in the past. There are just a few here on Oahu.

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  11. the video worked brilliantly. thank you!

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  12. Superb. What gorgeous birds. I don't think I've ever seen black swans before. Our swans are noted for being rather feisty...sounds like yours are, too! :-)

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  13. oh! such beauty.
    i'm glad you took this shot. ^0^

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  14. Such a pretty family! Thank you for sharing the video too. I really enjoyed it!

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  15. reminds me of reading EB White's Trumpet of the Swan to my third graders. Great photos and video!
    V

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  16. What a lovely SWAN family portrait!
    Kind vacation regards from Yellowstone Ntl Park and Montana from EAGAN daily photo

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  17. I love this picture, but after reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, if I see a black swan I can't avoid thinking about unexpected disasters on global scale...

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  18. Your video worked just fine! It looked like a pretty strong current. The black swans are so beautiful! I'd love to see them flying. Are they very common in your area?

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  19. Ooh, a lovely sight after a hard day's work and lots of stress about a new computer! :-)

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  20. Beautiful photos and nice video. I also like watching the swans in this country. They are in town for the winter. We have white ones. In winter, many people feed on the river bank. Peter.

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  21. Lovely, might have to go for a wander here myself :)

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  22. Nearly every lake that we have in Sydney has a family of Black Swans, too. They are gorgeous creatures. I did not know the male was a 'cob'.

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  23. They are so beautiful! I wish I had black swan in my home... Here, there is only the white one.

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  24. I can't imagine why ANYONE would call a cygnet an 'Ugly Duckling' - but it IS amazing how they transform into such stylish looking adults!!

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  25. Ahhh so that's were to go. Wonderful capture Grace.

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  26. My favourite swan. Lovely family indeed.

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