Mother Swan

On the way home from signing on (yeah - they managed to book my appointment properly today) I stopped at this spot to take a picture of mother swan incubating her 8 eggs. Swans have nested at this spot for many years. It is the end of a side shoot of the River Nene. Its full of rubbish and it always depresses me a little to think of such a beautiful creature nesting in such filth. But obviously they don't seem to mind. I stood and watched her for several minutes, tiding her nest. at one point she stood up and I counted 8 eggs. How wonderful!

This encouraged me to read up a little about swans. After the nest has been built, which typically takes 2-3 weeks, the egg laying process begins with an egg being laid every 12-24 hours. They were huge eggs so no wonder she needs a rest in between. Once all the eggs have been laid, which can take 2-3 weeks, they will all be incubated at the same time with hatching usually 42 days (6 weeks) later.

This afternoon helped Louis with his portfolio and a review of Harold Edgerton photography after which I mowed the grass and did some tiding up in the garden. Closely watched by 8 beady eyes. As soon as I moved on to the next bit they were all there where I had been seeing what they could scratch up.