Black swan and cygnets at local lake

This image of these beautiful birds was taken last spring at a seasonal wetland close to home. The other parent was close by. Spring starts in September in the southern hemisphere. Note the cygnet on the adults back.

They are adorable, Margaret. It's interesting they start with light-colored fluff and black beaks!

I'm glad you liked it OPbirder. Here's another image with both parents. The black swans, Cygnus atratus, are smaller than the mute swans and mate for life. The Swan River that runs through the West Australian capital city, Perth, was so named in early colonial times because of the large numbers of black swans it hosted. Numbers have reduced over the years, although they can still seen and efforts are being made to encourage them to return.

Outstanding! Thanks so much.

Thanks for your kind words, OPbirder. Now I'm on a roll. These are Pink Eared Ducks taken at the same seasonal wetland. I think it is the male who has a distinct pink area behind his eye during the mating/breeding season. My experience with these ducks is that they are very shy and I considered myself fairly fortunate to get these images, especially considering they had babies. Unfortunately, there are a lot of tortoises who prey on the babies. When the swamp dries up in summer, as it always does, the tortoises bury themselves in the clay bed and as soon as the rains come and the swamp has water in it, the tortoises are there, quite literally in their hundreds.

Looks like the adults' bills are built for shoveling? Beautiful birds. Thanks.

OH wow, Margaret, look at the stripes on those guys. Neat. Love the swans too. thanks.

A pair of Southern Boobook Owls, also known as Mopokes (because of their call). They are native to our part of south west Australia. Their call penetrates long distances on still nights.

Great pics Margaret! Those ducks are so unigue looking w/ those bills.

Thanks for sharing them with us!

Astonishing owls. Wow. Thanks Margaret.

I took this image of a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo at my sister's place in Canberra, the National Capital (and on the other side of the continent to where I live). They are large birds and come to a feeding station on her back deck. She feeds them only as a treat to prevent them from becoming dependent.

By the way, folks, thanks for your encouraging comments. I really appreciate it. Australia has a wonderfully diverse range of bird species. This is of a Pink and Grey Galah, a common species throughout most of Australia and considered a pest by grain farmers. They form gigantic flocks. You can tell this one's a female by its pale eye. The males have black eyes. They also mate for life. This girl is one of a pair that came here for years and on this particular day the back door was open and she came in and made herself very comfortable on my husband's knee. Her partner was not as bold, although he could be fed by hand.

Their beautiful Margaret!

Wow. That's amazing that she just made herself at home.

My husband and I rehabilitated this immature Black Swan which was found weak from starvation. It wasn't ill or injured. It took about three months to nurse it back to full health, at which time it flew away. It was mostly a very placid bird, but occasionally, always appreciative of the care it was being given, would give us a good whack with the leading edge of a wing. As adult birds they have no grey colouring.

Great birds and wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing the pictures of birds we never get to see here.

I saw our mute swans with signets on their backs one time. It was really a delight to see.

I love your ducks too. We have snapping turtles that frequently eat the baby ducks. I saw a mother teal take 10 babies into an area where there are many snapping turtles. I just wanted to warn her, NO don't go in there!
There has been some large snappers that will eat a grown goose (if one gets too close)

The Black Swan is beautiful Margaret!

Thanks for the encouraging comments pelletory, Mrs Ed and cpartschick.

Mrs Ed, the galah made herself perfectly at home, often visiting, preening herself, having a snack and then leaving Galahs are often kept as pets, which really bothers me. I can't understand why people want to keep a bird in a cage, often on its own, when with a little patience they willingly come to visit.

cpartschick, I've heard and seen footage of the snapping turtles. Are they also called Alligator Snapping Turtles? They are pretty scary. The tortoises/turtles in our local lake are fairly small, with approximately entree plate sized bodies, but are nonetheless deadly to a tiny duckling. I've seen the adult ducks jump suddenly, obviously after having been grabbed by the foot by a tortoise, although the adults are big enough to shake them off.

I've been looking at other threads and seeing images of beautiful birds that we don't get here. I've never seen a Jay, a hummingbird or a woodpecker. Diversity is wonderful.

LOVE that owl.

You don't have humminbirds there? wow. sad.

No hummingbirds in Australia, but they do have honeyeaters there, which have similar ecology and are also often very brightly coloured.

Resin

Thanks so much for all the pix.

I WANNA A SWAN FOR MY LAKE!!!!

We have the Muscovy ducks which are uglier than sin and also have there babies taken by the turtles. They have up to 14 at a clip and usually within a few days are down to about 4. That is a blessing, really, for they are messy, smelly and destructive.

Thanks again.

Hap

cpartschick, I found an image of one of the local long-necked turtles (apparently they are turtles, not tortoises) I took a year or so back. Nothing like your snapping turtles. If you sat with your feet dangling in the water, these might give your toe a bit of a nip, whereas your snapping turtles would be more likely to take a leg off!

Hap, there's a black swan enroute to a lake near you. You'll recognize it because it'll be hissing and will have all its neck feathers bristling with indignation. Here's our Muscovy duck. Exquisite nature, except when broody and far from ugly.

Beautiful!

Wow, you even have cool turtles.

The snapping turtles get really big here. When they first hatch they are about an inch across.
But some old ones (70-80 years) the shell is a couple feet, add the neck, head and long tail and you can see a 4 footer. Weight of 50 lbs. These are the size that can eat a goose.

The aligator snapper is different. Its shell is very spiney, ours have smooth shells.

I will have to dig for a picture of one of the snapping turtles. I will post it when I find it.

Sure enjoy looking at all your birds!

Found it faster than I thought.
This guy is about a 30 pounder. All the hubby could do to get him in the canoe. (they are all muscle and he fought pretty good) That neck can stretch out and he could almost snap at DH's hands. He was hissing pretty good too.
His claws are as big as my fingers. We released him right after getting a photo.

Thanks for the information. You were brave to bring the snapping turtle into the canoe.

The male swan in the attached image was heading towards me in an intimidating manner because he thought I posed a threat to the cygnets.

Wonderful pic Margaret! Those cygnets are adorable!

cpart, that is a huge turtle!

Our swans do not do very well in raising their brood. We have seen them loose all the hatch to eagles, pike and turtles.
Last year our pair (mute swans) had one cygnet and it was dead quite young and floating. They stayed nearby for a couple days. Not sure what happened to that one. It was sad to see.

Yesterday, we saw the pair with 5 new fuzzy kids. 3 are really dark gray and 2 lighter. They are so cute buzzing around in the water.
We will see how many make it to adulthood.

cpartschick, your mission is to get images of them. We'd love to see them.

Pelletory, the cygnets are utterly gorgeous. I'll include yet another image of them.

ohhhhhh.

how cute cute cute.

I want to hold one RIGHT NOW.

Take your pick, Mrs Ed and I'll have it posted.

:((

oh my, don't make me choose!!!

Nothing sweeter than cygnets or ducklings! ^_^

My mother tells a story of once being sick as a child and my great grandmother sneaking fuzzy chics in the house to snuggle at her neck. I gather that my grandmother was not too keen on this!

Hahahahahaa how cute?

The ducklings and cygnets tend to be pretty far out in the water so far, spotting scope distance so far. I will try for pictures.

I saw them this morning, but not at noon. Then I noticed a bald eagle sitting in the tree. He has perched there for over an hour. (again by spotting scope) Guess he knows the babies are hatched too.

Cuts down on the water fowl viewing out front when he is around.

cpartschick, this is an old photo but it shows the size of an adult turtle in relation to a medium sized dog. Our dog didn't hurt the turtle. She absolutley loved birds and was extremely tolerant of an orphaned magpie we raised. The maggie would even have his head in the dog's mouth or be on top of the dogs head poking its beak into her ears.

How fabulous to see Bald Eagles.

Thanks again to all for your encouraging comments (as if I need it)

Great picture. When I take turtle pictures it is hard to see the size. There are some monsters in the swamp, twice as big as the picture I posted, but no way to get a clear picture with size realationship.

The turtles will be starting to lay eggs soon, so I will see them up in the yard. The big ones really leave a mess.

The eagle sat all afternoon out in an oak tree across the lake. I did not see the swans at all, but heard them come in during the night and chase the geese away. (daddy swan gets really mean around geese)
Much needed rain today. I will keep trying for a picture. Even if it is a spotting scope picture.

Thanks, I look forward to it. Hey, I hope the smell doesn't increase exponentially with size. Our turtles are very wiffy!

The painted turtles and others are not too bad, but the snapping turtles smell like a sewer. They are horrid. I picked one up once (a smaller one) then washed my hands well right after. The next day I was really ill. We won't even touch them now without gloves.
And to think, these are something people eat!
I guess they need to be kept in clean water for days to get the yuck out of them first. No thanks, I will just enjoy them in the wild.