Friday 20 July 2012

New Growth



















The cygnets are growing fast and new adult feathers beginning to sprout along their wings. The timing seems to be ideally suited to the new flight feathers sprouting along Penny's wings too. Penny is usually the one who teaches them to fly by September when Popeye will still be moulting. As usual, people keep wondering if there is something wrong with the cygnets legs because they have them resting on their backs from time to time. This is normal using only one leg when resting, and also as a means of body temperature control.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You use the term "as usual".Not everyone is as clued up on swans as yourself.

jayteescot1 said...

It is a fairly common assumption and even the Scottish SPCA get regular phone calls from concerned members of the public. I take your point though, I too was unaware some years ago about swans resting their legs !