Moulting

It was a wet morning so it was a dash to the park between showers for a quick Blip - our lone swan complied. It was only when I looked at the photo on the computer I realised she is in moult. I found this interesting and informative article on the internet. On this photo one can just see the tinge of pink of the blood feathers, and the wing feather straws. She will lose all of her + - 25000 feathers during the moult which takes a about four weeks, and during most of this time she is grounded No wonder she is looking a tad ragged! I have taken the liberty of putting a screen shot in my extra photos which labels the various feathers of a moulting swan. I learned a lot this morning.
Here endeth the lesson!