Baby Mute Swan Photos

I spent a big chunk of last weekend sitting in some gnarly vegetation and being chewed on by mosquitoes–one of which bit my butt somehow–and this posting is the result.  The other result was scratching my butt all week, but let’s move on.

The swan story goes like this:  once upon a time a mute swan I named Mr. Gawky hooked up with a mute swan I named Mrs. Gawky.  They made a nest, and this year, she laid 8 eggs.  Some 37 days later, through thunder storm and tornado watches, Mrs. Gawky’s eggs began hatching.

Hatched babies got to watch the other babies hatch.

This guy worked his way out of his egg, got out from under Mrs. Gawky and hung out at the edge of the nest. 

I spent a lot of time waiting around to count hatched babies, most of which were hiding underneath Mrs. Gawky.  And while  I was diligently watching, well, you can see how into it Mr. Gawky was. 

Here, finally, Mrs. Gawky stretches to reveal that four have hatched, and there’s four more to go.

The babies figured out the ins and outs of their mother’s feathers.

I noticed not all the babies were the same white color at first. 

It turned out the one baby is into yoga.

This little fella was my favorite. 

This little guy was rather fun to watch, too.

This is the last baby shot I took before the weekend ended.

The next day was Monday and some of us have to work five days a week, but I did come home during lunch and snapped the babies’ first trip off their nest and into the water.

I must say the first feeding lesson didn’t go so well.  Mrs. Gawky was the only swan with her head in the water.

So that’s it from Gawkyland for now.  Hopefully there will be more photos in the future, without the embarrassing mosquito bites.