Flapper Friday – Hitching…

We have only one set of swans in the area this season that have cygnets… and only two of them. (I have a theory about the lack of bird offspring along the rivers and ponds in the area… but that’s a story for another day. Don’t worry – it’s not the catastrophic climate emergency… ) Anyway, since the swan parents began showing off their children we’ve been in a quandary.

Not many days after the little ones emerged, my good lady reported that she’d seen the parents… but no little ones. Then, a few days later we saw one… and we were really baffled. Either there was another breeding pair on the scene, which we doubted… or the parents were playing games and hiding their hatchlings.

However… a few days after that we again noticed the parents and only one of their cygnets… but then the mystery revealed itself…  as you can see here!

Yep… I kid you not… when the baby feels like hiding you don’t have even the slightest indication that it’s taking a ride… but it is!

We have not seen this before… but hey, isn’t that part of growing up? Learning new things all the time!

PS – I had to use my very manky 300mm so please pardon the fuzzy pics!

PPS – I’m happy to report… the young ones were still happy and well when we last passed that way – that was yesterday afternoon!

PPPS – No… I don’t do Photoshop!