Mute Swan and Cygnet

[Ol'coot]

There is a pair of Mute Swans that Janice and I have been watching on a daily basis since the ice melted off the local lake this year. The swans have become accustomed to us being around and they now show no fear of us and make no attempt to chase us away. We have photographed them during their courting, nest building and the Pen (female) sitting on the nest of 6 or 7 eggs. The first cygnet hatched today and I would assume that more will follow tomorrow. Here are some shots taken early evening today. Nature is truly amazing.

[Bill C]

Cute pictures, thanks for sharing Tony! How close could you get before they would get 'disturbed'?
Bill

[Ol'coot]

Bill,

We are able to get as close as 12 to 15 feet from the nest. There is a wooden walkway with a rail that goes through the reeds and this is a close as we attempt to get. As we have never attempted to move past that point the swans have some trust that we will not come any closer. When they were building the nest the large male made some hissing sound at us, We would not move closer but did not move away and he no longer hisses at either of us, but he does keep a close eye on us.

[Ray]

Tony,

Wow! Those are great pictures! They are so sharp! Swans are usually very fierce in nature, so I guess this one must be pretty tame esp that she's got eggs!
Are those shot with the S2? Can you please give more camera specs please.

-Ray

[AzRich]

awwww.

Thanx for the lesson too, didn't know what a cygnet was :)

[sandman]

Nice shots of the cygnet Tony , As you know i love shooting swans ( no jokes) and that pair of nesting blacks i shot last month were pretty special around here .
I'm surrounded by swan lakes (not ballet ones) andall of ours are friendly , but when the've got chicks the females (penns) do become very aggressive untill they get to trust you.
Be nice to get shots of them at intervals through the first year with the different plummage untill they reach maturity

Brian

[Ol'coot]

Thanks everyone for the comments,

Ray,
These were shot using the S2 and a Sigma 50-500mm lens handheld. The EXIF information should be still in each photo.

Brian,
I also enjoy your swan shots, Please post more. The swans are such magnificent animals. I have never seen a black swan except in photos. I love this forum as it allow me to share my love of nature with others all over world that have some of the same interest. I hope to get shots as they grow to chronicle their growth until they leave this area in late fall. Janice and I are off this morning to check and see if any more eggs have hatched. :)

[Ol'coot]

Janice and I stopped to check on the Swans this morning, still only one little one that we could see. The male swan (Cob) was swimming toward us along the reeds and must have gotten to close to a Redwing Black Bird nest hidden in the reeds. The male Redwing Black Bird started to attack the Cob and for a few second it was quite the sight.

[jknights]

Great shots.
You were lucky to get that close to the nest as the male swan is usually very protective/aggressive.

[Ol'coot]

Thanks Jonathan, I agree that getting this close to the nest is really something special. This evening we again stopped to check on the swans and the Pen was still sitting on the nest but we did not see any cygnets. I was concerned that maybe something had already gotten the little guy. I could see the Cob coming from across the lake as he always does to check on what we are doing around the nest. As he got closer I could see a small grey dot behind him in the water, and to our surprise it was the cygnet following close behind. So everything was fine. It seems that dad had just taken the new kid for a tour of the lake.

[puntisaks]

Love is all around the world. Great meaning shot. Mother is true love.