A cold, wet, grey afternoon did little to lift lockdown gloom so I was very happy to have taken this picture two days ago. Only speckles of yellow for now but when spring arrives this whole bush will be washed in sunshine!
To be fair to the rain, it did give a polished sheen to this fallen trunk.
And further on I locked onto this couple with their jolly yellow umbrella.
Passing on beyond their umbrella, I also found the larger swan family which, it appears, are a second family – not the original family that our swan watcher has been tracking for us.
For those who want to be put straight on the Hampstead swan population it would appear that there are actually three families:
Family 1 who live on the Hampstead pond next to South End Green. This is the family followed by our swan watcher. It started off with six cygnets but are now down to two.
Family 2 who live on Highgate Pond 1 (the next door pond to the Men’s Bathing Pond). I have no idea how many there were originally in this family, but six cygnets remain.
Family 3 – who are actually are just a couple with no cygnets who live on the Boating Pond. They are relatively recent arrivals so maybe they have only just got together and have not yet had a chance to have a family. They also do not seem that matey and are quite often to be seen at opposite ends of the pond. Maybe togetherness in the swan world only comes with parenthood.
New Year’s Day – and a swan onrush……..