More rainy day drawing #wildlifeart

With the rainy days even more apparent I decided to do some more drawing so I decided draw a Swan and it's cygnet for a while and this week I did. It's abit rough but once I learn how to add detail I should improve. I think I have the shape right on most of my drawings but I think I have nailed the cygnets detail perfectly. I am hoping to do lots more drawing over the Winter.

A Waxwing I drew and hopefully they will return this Winter!!!

 A collection of the drawings I have done so far, with all this year I think I'll be drawing more wildlife than photographing it.

Thanks for reading my blog
Stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

The return of Flash

As it was very warm the other day we decided not to head out to far. We ended up going to a local stretch of river so if we got to hot we could cool off in the water. We were mainly looking for a Swan family or Sand martins .After walking a few miles along the river we ended up finding nothing but the river looked beautiful with it's clear and sparkling water. 

There were plenty of Damselflies zipping up and down the river and mating on the river weed. On the way back though from a high bank over the river we spotted a pair of Swans with one cygnet, I did the call that some of the pairs I photograph know to see if they would respond. The female reacted and raised her head to my call and this so it got me thinking was this Flash and his mate Whisper. 

 Staying together and doing quite well with the faster speed of the flowing river

 

We could not see the family properly or leg tags so we fought through the nettles to get onto the sandbank where they were resting. Once we got closer we saw it was them and they had 4 Cygnets not just one.  When we approached calling like we have to Flash for years he came over without any aggression and tapped my bag to see if we had any food for him and his family. I took a few photographs and left them in peace heading down river closer to the unsafer area nearer to the town. The things that worry me at this time of year are the increase more Dogs off leads playing in the river and a few people who find entertainment in harming nature. Hopefully I will be able to keep an eye on them but nice thing was Whisper seemed to be wary of us which means she will be keeping her Cygnets very safe and she will lead them to safety if needed.

 I think Flash on the left is moulting but I think he's quite strong even if he can't fly

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

A book from my childhood

Over the past few weeks I have been getting rid of some clutter and the other day I found this lovely short poem about Swans in a book I had when I was 10 years old. This year I'm 31 so the books twenty years old, the poem book means alot to me as it shows that my love for wildlife started when I was very young. I have a few other books about wildlife from my childhood which I may blog about in the future.

 I am not sure who wrote the poem as I took a photograph before I gave this and a few other items to a charity shop. I hope you liked the poem as I think it sums up Swans perfectly.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Flashes disappearance!!!!!!!

An interesting one today and as Flash the male Mute Swan who I have been filming raising his Cygnets with his mates over the years disappeared for a few weeks and we could not find out where he was. Not sure if he may have died of old age, predation ie.Otter, Fox, flying into power cables or whether he had been taken by Eastern Europeans which I have observed in the area lately it was very worrying. But this morning in the local news paper he turned up and was rescued near his territory on the local canal near Middlewich. Hopefully he will be released next week to his own patch which he will defend and his mate may return or a new female may show up.

The article was wrong in some places about the number of Cygnets but that's trivial stuff.
 Regarding his mate which I named Snow did not die as she and Flash separated/divorced. She used the opportunity of a another Swan dying which was a younger bird as it had grey feathers to escape as we checked the dead Swan to confirm. Snow went off down the river in search of pastures new but will she return in time for spring?!?!?....

Swan divorce is RARE BUT IT'S A TRUE FACT http://www.mnn.com/…/10-bird-species-that-get-di…/mute-swans

  
So stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

Rain, rain and more rain

Since Thursday night we have had lots of rain non stop for a few days and finally it stopped on Friday afternoon but the rivers began to rise on Friday night. The River Dane burst it's banks, covered public paths and hit the canal Aqueduct at Croxton, Middlewich.

The Aqueduct goes over the river and at 5pm it was getting higher and by 8pm the field next to the Trent and Mersey canal had began to flood as well. On Saturday night we had a hard frost and the water in the field froze and the waters subsided making a nice pool for the local Mallards to rest on.

It looks like there more wet weather to come and Christmas maybe very wet, windy and cold if the last few weeks are anything to go by. Here's something to warm you up on a cold and dark winters day. It's from the Spring and the video explains itself and should leave you feeling all warm inside.

So stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

Cygnets at last!!!!!! Congrats to Flash and Snow

At the end of last week we finally spotted my Local Swans Flash & Snow with there 8 Cygnets and I was pleased to see success for them at last. Last year tragedy struck when the Cygnets died due to heavy rain and threats from predators.

 On the first day of seeing them they were feeding on the lake mainly on the reeds that the adults pull out for them and over the next few weeks they will be showing the cygnets what to eat where to find food. It was a joy to see Flash and Snow being parents as this is there 2nd year of breeding I thought they would succeed after spending a whole year together from Spring to Winter.

The day after the family were feeding nearer to land so I managed to lie down and get a few low shots of the Cygnets.

A fantastic start for Flash and Snow and I will be keeping an eye on the family making sure they stay together and keeping an eye out for human threats over the next few weeks while there small and vulnerable. From previous years I know the adults always return the cygnets back to the nest at sunset to sleep. So a few days ago I managed to kayak at sunrise to there nest to get a few shots of them leaving the nest for a days feeding on the canal and river. I shall post my photographs and findings in tomorrows blog as I got some lovely shots of the family while hidden away from the rest of the world in there reed bed hideaway.

  Thanks for visiting

Mike
A little preview from a relaxing few hours with the Swans...

Rhino the Mute Swan and his family

While waiting for my local pairs Swans Flash and Snow to hatch there eggs I decided on walking to a nest on the edge of my local patch as I was informed they had 4 Cygnets and 2 eggs yet to hatch. The male is very unusual as he has a bald bill knob which I have never seen on a Swan before so I decided to name him Rhino due to his unusual condition and as I watched Amazing Spider man 2 it was the only name I could think of.

Rhino with his mate on a fishing pool so they are well protected as they have a large lake to avoid any unwanted attention.

 I could not really photograph the cygnets due to the long grass so this one will have to do for now until Flash and Snows eggs hatch

 Lovely emerald green background

 Remaining Unhatched eggs

I also noticed a Broad bellied chaser on some wasteland nearby which is my first for this year

 Thanks for visiting

Mike

Weekend with the Swans

A great few mornings this weekend with my local pair of Mute Swans Flash and Snow nesting on my local lake I have decided to focus on there filming at the weekend and let them have there piece in the week. I wanted to get a few shots of them on the nest at sunrise and as you can see below they allow me to there nest and are very relaxed due to the amount of years I have been filming/photographing them.

My first shot was a panorama of Flash the male guarding the nest while Snow fed in the reed beds and I really love the light and the focus on the nest in the center and hopefully I can get more panoramas as the eggs hatch into lovely little cygnets and as last year the family failed it would be great to see them have a success this year.

To see a larger version click here

Low shot of Flash on the nest at sunrise

 As the sun shined on the nest Flash began calling Snow back to the nest to take over his shift and during the change over they let me show there clutch of 3 egg's so far and by next weekend I should no how many Cygnets we could have. As Swans can lay up to 12 eggs it could be a big family. I am expecting the eggs to hatch at the end of April but as I am away at the end of April I may miss it which would be a shame after watching them from building there new nest. My gut is telling me the 18th/19th is when they will hatch which would be perfect as I am not away till a few days later so fingers crossed I can film them hatching and taking there first swim on the lake.

Flash on the water as sunrises over the farmland behind allowing a lovely orange background

3 eggs

Thanks for reading

Mike

PLEASE IF YOU SEE A NESTING SWAN DO NOT GET TOO CLOSE AS THEY WILL DEFEND THERE AND NEST AS I HAVE TRIED FILMING OTHER PAIRS AND NONE HAVE BEEN FRIENDLY AND FLASH AND SNOW ARE ALSO AGGRESSIVE TO ANYONE GOING NEAR THERE NEST. WITH ME AND MY BROTHER WHO HAVE BEEN FILMING THEM OVER MANY YEARS EVEN AT NIGHT OVER THE WINTER. WE HAVE GAINED THERE TRUST AND THEY HAVE ACCEPTED US AS A NON THREAT. IF THEY EVER SHOW ANY AGRESSION OR SIGNS OF WANTING THERE OWN SPACE WE BACK OFF AND ALLOW THEM THERE SPACE.