New Life

Working on my next blog entry in my head, but it was such a beautiful day, I had to go down to the river.  One of the best things about the house I live in now is how close I am to the river.  It cuts through the town, and walking around the widest part of it is both good exercise and good space for thinking.  Right now, most of the inspiration for my photographs comes from this place – I see something different each time I go.

Living this close, walking around it, I’ve also developed an appreciation for birds I never had before, since there are so many of them who live in this little ecosystem.  We have swans here, the original bevy (what you call a group of swans) given to the town by the Queen many years ago; they’re Stratford’s official symbol now.   Mute swans, which are white, and one black one, an Australian breed – he/she is my favourite, much more elegant and with a sweet, soft voice rather than the loud hissing of the (not so) mute swans.  We also have ducks, Canada geese, a bar-headed goose, sometimes loons, blue herons (very elusive, usually only seen at dawn or after twilight), and even, at certain times of the year, cormorants who pause here on their migration route.

Today, I saw no less than three swans on the nest, and was able to get a photo of one.  I’ve never seen swan eggs before; they’re almost too big to fit in one hand.

I also saw a pair of Canada geese, who had a family of three fuzzy, golden little goslings.  Thank goodness for telephoto lenses – I was able to do this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glimpses of new life, both present and on the way, made up for the exhaustion I felt when  I got home, and I appreciate the creative energy the birds “shared” with me today.

My exhaustion, and the cause of it – that story will begin in my next post.