StoneRoad2013's photos with the keyword: cygnets

Six juvenile swans - these cygnets are the first that I've seen in Whitehaven in 2025. I was mildly worried that the bird flu had meant disruption to the breeding, so I was pleased to see these. When I first looked, they were lined up and all were nibbling at the weed fringe ... but it took me a while to get the camera out & into action. The wall is the inner [town] face of Lowther Basin in the Marina at Whitehaven.

The first stop on our "Sojourn Down South" was at Manton Bay, Rutland Water. The main point of the visit was to see Maya, 33(10) and their FOUR chicks [not long after we left, one probably did a proper first flight]. I've watched events on this nest via webcam for some years. This is the view form one of the other hides in Manton Bay - featuring mum swan and her three cygnets, a diving duck and what I think is a white / little egret in the right background. It was very hot, with only a little breeze. Also saw a lot of butterflies and a few bees.

Feeding the marina swans, 11th December 2016 - actually, we gave them some old breakfast cereal, not bread. Several cobs (males) are displaying to each other and the pens (females) with half-raised wings, this is "busking" but the wing posture can be used to "wind-surf" as well. There are several established pairs, but also several non-breeding adults, juveniles and cygnets in the marina population. The boat visible is "Saltire" , she is an ex-lifeboat.

A couple of cygnets have just had a few pieces of crust.

Hand-feeding a pair of cygnets. The young gull behind was also hoping for a hand out, but wisely kept out of the way.

Adult swan and two cygnets in synchronised preening event.