Thanks to the wonderful Swan Lady, I can let readers know that yesterday, at around 11am, a rare black swan was photographed at Chasewater, just by the play fort on the south shore.
I’m not aware of any black swans being seen here before; I know the pool by the JCB plant in Rocester is noted for them, but this is a remarkable and beautiful thing.
It’s worth reading up on Black Swans – they’re native to the Antipodes but there were less than 50 feral birds in the UK in 2004. They also give their name to an interesting probability theory.
Thanks to all involved in sending the picture in – what an extraordinary thing!
A remarkable sight at Chasewater – taken at 11:02am, Wednesday 17th September 2014. Image very kindly sent in for the Swan Lady by Dawn Hodges-Adcock.
Oh me of little faith, my wife Sue told me she had seen this bird last week, but I was very sceptical, nothing on the Chasewater site either so I thought she was seeing things. Good for her spotting skills.
Hi Bob The Black swan common here in Oz is white underneath when in flight,
Brewer’s Phrase and Fable 1898…
Rare Black Swan…Rara Avis!
A phenomenon; a prodigy; a something quite out of the common course. Black swans are now familiar to us; they are natives of Australia, and have given its name to the “Swan River”. At one time a black and white swan was emphatically a rara avis.
I can remember going on holiday to Dawlish when we were kids over 40 years ago and seeing Black swans on the stream that runs through the centre of the town.
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