Another brood

On World Photography Day I homed in on one of my favourite birds. Swans are a cliched  subject, but I try to capture them going about their natural business.  Although I live in a built environment nature is all around - in the garden, parks, rivers and canals.  In the middle of the city with rewilding plots appearing now, there is a greater awareness of the benefits natural  spaces bring to the quality of our lives.
These mute swans have been settled here for three years in this reclaimed  land beside a recreational area that has been turned into a substantial pond with enclosed grassland. Mute swans mate for life and use the same nest each year when possible, rebuilding it from sticks, mud and reeds found on the edge of waterways. During the breeding season the colour of male’s bill intensifies. Males (cobs) are also larger than the females (pens) of the species. I think this is a cob.Mute swans, are known to be less vocal than their cousins the whoopers. However, they do have some distinctive calls – a “Heeorr!” sound, similar to a muffled trumpet.