New paintings and regular art updates.
Another digital drawing done with the Artrage app a few years ago. I think this was possibly done using a stylus, not as a finger painting. Why purple? I like the colour. It seems to include blues and reds within it, so that it can be cold or warm. If I could change anything on this I would probably erase the short stubby legs and just have it swimming with a reflection underneath it instead. Somehow it looks like it’s standing on ice…
The silver blue water of Westport Lake in Stoke on Trent today. This Swan was one of many that were searching for food. It had cygnets in tow, almost free of the pale brown plumage. The swans got out of the lake later as visitors were feeding them bread (not an ideal diet) but in this weather they need sustenance. They even tried a swift peck at my friends arm!
We only walked a couple of miles but that was enough for today. I was chilled by a cold breeze and glad to get back to the car. I will do more walks.
The ugly duckling hides in the reeds, brown feathers gradually lost, snow white feathers uncovered. Soon it will be a majestic Swan.
Photo from a walk in 2020, Westport lake in Stoke on Trent.
Swan from a couple of years ago, changing from plumage as a cygnet (young Swan) , I guess the brown helps camouflage it. I haven’t been out anywhere for weeks, so I have not seen many birds recently. This photo was taken on a walk round Westport Lake. More worrying is the prevalence of bird flu in the UK which was around in the summer and has been continuing over the last few months. Its frightening that so many birds and animals are being affected by disease. It says something about humans interference with nature that these things are happening. Recent studies have found that the bird flu virus survives in open water for months and that it is able to infect birds that migrate to those lakes and pools, making them ill when they arrive.
I hope this bird has had a good and healthy life. I don’t know how the disease can be prevented.
Can you see the bird on the nest? I think it might have been a coot or a moorhen, but it was hidden under the overhanging branches of an alder tree, floating on the small lake at Westport. We also saw two Swans with eight cygnets swimming behind them. It’s that time of year in the Northern Hemisphere when nature renews itself. You see ducks with their ducklings too. I hope we get hedgehogs in our garden again too. Their babies are called hoglet’s.
Cygnet under the weeping willows at Westport Lake this weekend.
A Cygnet is the name of a young Swan, this will be one from last spring. It’s white feathers are starting to come through. As it moults after winter it should lose the brown feathers and become fully white. Like in the story the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson, where the duckling is in reality a young Swan.
I wanted to feed the wild birds while I was there but the Wildlife Trust are not selling bird food. There is bird flu in the country and when they come together to feed it can spread between the geese and ducks and swans, moorhens and coots. So sad to see. Hopefully they will be OK and the population will recover soon.
Swanning around
The Swan swam
Peaceful and proud
Sheltered from the wind
On a cold lake.
At this time of year wild birds need food. But sadly some of them are suffering from Bird Flu. It’s hard to know which ones are ill unless they display odd behaviour. I’m not sure what you should do, but we regularly go to our local Staffordshire Wildlife centre so I think it’s best to ask them for advice.
There are so many viruses around these days, including Swine Flu, Sars, Mers and other illnesses. I think if there is a vaccination against the ones that harm humans they should be used. Not just for rich countries, but for everyone. Rich or Poor. But we should also take care of wildlife. There is too much harm in the world. We need to find a balance.
Black Swan seen today. My hubby went up to it and stroked the back of its neck! I’m surprised he didn’t get pecked!
I heard that these birds were introduced from abroad. Perhaps Australia? They are mostly all black with red beaks, although there are slight amounts of white in places on them. They are slightly smaller in stature than the normal swans we see. Mute or Hooper Swans? I’m not sure if they can interbreed.
I’m sad that I didn’t get a better photo.
We saw this family of Swans on our walk round Westport today. The Cygnets are almost adult size now and are stretching their wings and legs and are starting to change from soft down to white plumage.
As we stood and took photos several people walked past with dogs. The male Swan reacted by hissing loudly. One woman and her friends had three small dogs with them. Her friends walked swiftly by but she was panicking and wouldn’t move so I asked her to hand me the dogs lead and I held it while I stood between the Swan and her dog. The Swan just hissed but didn’t attack. She got past and I carried on with my walk. X
Mallaband-Brown