Best of all, Reading has some rare Black Swans. Which, I think, next to Buzzards, are my favourite birds. Their comical trumpeting reminds me of a rusty garden gate hinge, which always makes me smile. And I haven't seen them attack anything yet, unlike their more aggressive white 'mute' cousins, which are always rampaging up and down the river.
Black Swan Wiki
Black Swan symbolism
* image pinched from Google Images.
Hey Ken,
ReplyDeleteI saw a black swan recently. Was on a walk in East Sussex, when we stumbled across an old building that had a moat around it and a black swan swimming in it, with a garden that had what looked like a fantasy pond from some JG Ballard novel - it was quite amazing.
I am up visiting some friends on the Thames in a couple of weeks, but it looks like you're further towards Oxford than I'll be, but I hope to be visiting Oxford soon, so it might coincide with you arriving in that area! I'll keep you posted.
nice one, Graham. It would be good to see you. We saw a pair of Black Swans with some young in Reading. It was nice to see that they're not "incredibly rare" around these parts.
ReplyDeleteK&S