Friday, June 24, 2011

Going for a Ride

Well, here is a post I was looking forward to putting up for a while... 
I think this was one of my favourite lunch hours so far at Bayfront Park.
Enjoy!

The "ugly" duckling?

Proud momma with five cygnets.

Pile on mom!!

Wait for me!

High, dry, and cozy.

Best seat on the ride.

Starting to preen right away.

Dozing off.

Taking up the rear.


the Cob just up from a snack.
Here is some more information about swans on a neat website I found.  Lots of interesting facts about swans.  A few highlights that you might not have known (or may never care about):
- A swan has 23 vertebrae in that long graceful neck
- Cygnets have to peck for almost a whole day at the egg with the "egg tooth" on their little bills before hatching.  No wonder they look completely wearied when they hatch, wobbling all over the place.
The male is called a "cob", and the female a "pen".
- The cob typically can be distinguished as the larger of the two, and also has a larger knob at the base of its beak.

A beautifully designed bird, enjoyable to watch with their young.



5 comments:

  1. Bri, these are AMAZING!! SO cute!! fun enough just to see that on your lunch hour, much less to have your camera on you and to take such incredible pics..wow! poor things having to peck for a whole day to get out...good thing I`m not a swan because I might have been too lazy to be born. :) I wonder, if one didn`t feel like pecking for that long if they die in there or if they will finally grow big enough to crack out of it? I guess not, if they have nothing to eat...yuck, that sounds claustrophobic. good thing God gave them instinct and a good work ethic. :)

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  2. I heard that swans can drink fresh and salt water. They shake out the salt from their gland above their eyes. Amazing! Nice shots.

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  3. Thanks Dan. I did not know that tidbit. I thought it was just shore birds (ocean shore birds).

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  4. Some great shots! Thanks for stopping by my blog - yours is awesome!

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  5. Thanks Kyle. Looking forward to your next post.

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