Babies!

What a lovely way to end an otherwise stressful day. As I left work (much later than usual) there was our Wild Life Warden laying on the grass with two babies. As it had been a full on and most unproductive day with not one photo taken, I stopped and asked him to pose. He did turn and give me a full on smile, but as we talked I snapped a couple more and actually prefer this one.

The smaller, darker cygnet is a black swan and the elder of the two. The other one is a Whooper Swan. The Whooper's mother laid one egg earlier this year and sadly died. When James (warden) found her the egg it was 48 hours later but he decided to try it in the incubator anyway. It hatched this week. He is absolutely thrilled as this just the sort of reason he wanted the incubator. They are being raised together so that neither one relies on James as its parent.