Swans

Family gathering ??
beautifully captured Keith.

Quite possibly Jaap.............there were a lot of swans around, with many younger looking ones. Glad you like the shot and thank you.

The bird flu epidemic is hitting the avian species very hard, and it is particularly noticeable with swans. They are big birds and I suppose get a lot of attention. We notice the shortage of garden birds in our garden.
I hope these 6 beauties get away unscathed. They seem to be part of fairly large bevy that you show in the PiP.

Yes, the news announcement about the dead swans also had a piece about sea birds and other wild birds being infected too. We've also noticed that we've had hardly any birds in our garden and we normally get quite a few. I suspect it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Although these shots were taken on different dates, the swans are part of a huge group that normally hang around at the same place. Before the Government advice not to do so, we used to regularly visit and feed them (with proper swan food and not bread, I hasten to add).

They were still lovely and healthy when you photographed them! Avian flu is hitting hard -also on the continent. One of these days this might turn into the next pandemic when it infects humans and mutates...

The ones we could see seemed to be OK and the dead ones were found quite recently.. I think there had been other deaths, but it was the large number found in one go that got it on the local news. Most wild species seem to be getting infected.......it's very sad and quite worrying.

I hope you're wrong about the next pandemic!

Oh,deine Zeilen machen einen auch traurig lieber Keith,es sind so schöne majestätische Tiere,ich beobachte sie auch immer gerne,da hast du eine Menge dieser Schwäne angetroffen,mir gefallen deine Aufnahmen,schön,wie sie im Pip angeschwommen kommen und an Land gehen :))

Wünsche noch einen schönen Nachmittag,ganz liebe Grüße Güni :))

Yes, it's very sad and worrying Güni.........and many other wild bird species are becoming infected as well, not just the swans.

Glad you like the photos though.

Family Life ! How nice !

It is indeed Ulrich. Thanks for dropping by.

wat een hoop zwanen mooie opname

Thank you Fred.

Always good to see swans like this and so very dad that the dreaded bird flu has devastated the flock. I don't like the thought of so many birds dying - which they are and I have just read a rather unsettling fiction book where bird-flu started to infect humans with similar effects of death rates. Lets hope that it soon passes.

Keep well. Herb

It's very sad Herb............and still ongoing :-( Like you, I hope it soon passes!

Not sure I like the plot of that book.........glad it's just fiction...........but you can never rule this sort of thing out!

They are such lovely birds. I hope they have lots of babies!

Thank you so much Eva. I hope they do as well, but they're under threat from the bird-flu outbreak at the moment, so just staying alive will do for now!

Two very beautiful pictures Keith. It was great weather the week you took this and it shows in the colour of the water, which looks gorgeous.

Thank you kind lady...............glad you like the photos.

It’s sad to read about the bird flu connection to this beautiful scene.
I have just sent some money to the BTO who are getting together with other bird charities and government agencies to collate all their individual data and first quantify the true scale of the flu on wild birds before looking for hot-spots and and possible remedies.

That's a kind thing to do Colin. I belong to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the RSPB and they're involved in much the same work...........and probably collaboratively with the BTO and other organisations .

Schwäne sind sehr schöne Vögel, aber wir werden immer wieder daran erinnert, dass wir nicht im Paradies leben.

Thank you Wilhelm...........and you are quite correct of course.

Ohhh sind das Viele!...ich denke dabei immer an die "children of lir"...
www.irelandsmythsandlegends.com/the-children-of-lir
...deren Grab ich an einer Straße bei Allihies gefunden habe....

Yes, it's very sad.........and it's not just swans that are affected :-(

I just followed the link...........such a charming legend (and one I hadn't heard before).

OH, c'est vraiment dommage. Ici ,tout les élevages de poules et de canards sont fermés par mesure de prévention.Celà commence a devenir difficile pour certains commerces. Selon la tradition Anglaise (enfin, je crois) les cygnes sont-ils toujours la propriété du Roi ?