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Popeye and Penny are still in the business of creating new offspring to grace our river.
My camera has been sent away for repair, but currently using my canon power shot over the last week.
Sequence shows our beautiful duo doing their Swan lake - Enjoy !
Finally we get some blue sky, after many cold miserable and tiresome wet days. Forecast is for some dry frosty weather, at least with brighter skies.
The Redshank in winter plumage forages around the stones and seaweed, while Popeye and Penny wait for spring.
It's no coincidence that birds look their best as spring approaches. Popeye and Penny are no exception, the radiance of their plumage is stunningly white just now.
They are getting that loving feeling ...and it shows !
Happy New Year ! Something we wish everyone at this time of year is good health - this includes our river birds.
Popeye and Penny were indeed the picture of good health today, the chilly east wind increases their appetite.
Mixed wild bird seed, poultry pellets, wheat and wholemeal were the order of the day.
A new photo season is under way with our happy pair and a few two headed Swan shots !
People often ask how to tell the difference between Popeye and Penny our resident Cob and Pen. Yesterday I had the chance to get a close - up of both of them together at the right angle.
Popeye is on the left , and you will notice the black fleshy lump at the base of his bill is much larger than on Penny who is on the right. Popeye is also heavier and his orange bill is usually a deeper shade than Penny most of the year.
Another glorious summer day, and one of the most amazing happenings with Popeye and Penny since they came here.
Popeye escorted one of their female offspring back to the nesting site while Penny was sitting on the new clutch ! I can only surmise what was going on, but it looked like he was flirting with his offspring.
Penny was having none of it and was off the nest in a flash and into attack mode, chasing the cygnet away.
Perhaps the young cygnet was an earlier version of Penny, and Popeye could not resist the attraction !
Anyway this evening all was restored, and Popeye was dutifully sitting beside his partner and their future offspring to be.
Spring is in the air, with brilliant sunshine again favouring the Moray firth, the Nairn Swans are getting in the mood for another breeding season.
Popeye and Penny were enjoying the renovated moat and new abundance of fresh water available.
Penny started the courtship today by blowing bubbles, and Popeye soon joined in
- the sequence of photos shows the annual mating ritual.
Enjoy !
Taking advantage of exceptional tidal conditions, it looks like Popeye and Penny have managed to expel the cygnets from the river - bar one.
Today they had Peace at last, and enjoyed a wheat meal together.
It's almost 10 years since I first saw Penny and Popeye on the river. They arrived in May 2005 looking for a nesting site, I believe they were newly paired up and about 4 years old.
This makes them 14 years old this season.
What a pair they have turned out to be, they have raised 49 cygnets to date and have claimed the river territory as their own.
Today I watched as two new swans tried to fly in, only to be met by Penny and this years offspring, it was no contest so they headed away - they might well have been some of her previous offspring.
The swans island is extremely attractive when the tide is in, and no doubt looks an ideal nesting site for any pair of swans.
Penny has made full use of the Island since it's construction, and now knows the river and tides better than anyone.
In celebration of her many productive years contribution to the river, and the pleasure she has given to all who traverse the riverside,
here are some classic poses of this beautiful and remarkable Swan.
