Animals & Wildlife
swan preening neck on black background
This white mute swan (Cygnus olor) is preening its feathers with its orange beak, bending its neck in a graceful tight curve. It looks elegant doing this, even with the twist of weed stuck to its head!
This is just one of the many found on the Thames and protected under Royal Charter, although commonly eaten by Royalty in medieval times.
They are all checked and counted every year by the process called "swan upping".
This one was particularly friendly. After I had fed him some seeds, it even took some out of my hand. Strangely, the click of my camera seemed to attract it back to me several times after it had finished them, and then started swimming away!
Date: 08/06/2005
Location: River Thames at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
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