Take a little time

[Fourwings]

I'd had a fairly uneventful walk round my local reserve on Monday & was on my way back to the car when I came accross a small group of Mute Swans.
The group comprised of six juvenile/semi-adult birds and they were busy feeding on Canadian pond weed against the shore, I stopped to watch them for a minute or so then for some reason decided to go and sit on a large stone at the waters edge next to where they were feeding.

They were totally unconcerned by my presence and continued to feed and as I sat watching I began to study the interaction between them, listening to the weird selection of nasal sounds that they use to comunicate with each other & how certain patterns and volumes of sound combined with physical movement were used to assert and control the pecking order of the group.
I sat there for nearly an hour and by that time they had become so accustomed to my presence that two of the birds had been giving both my trousers & fleece sleves a tug.

This fantastically rewarding experience really goes to emphasize that we should sometimes take time to just sit and study nature however common it may be, it would have been so easy to just have given the swans a quick glance and walked on, I don't know what made me stop but I'm really glad I did.

[John]

I can definitely relate to that, especially where Mute Swans are present.

Before I started Birdwatching (1995) I was an angler and many a time I used to have these wonderful birds cruise up to you and sit in your swim, totally unconcerned at your presence.

Every now and again you would get a rogue bird but by and large they just seemed to enjoy your presence.

I remember fishing the Kings Sedgemoor Drain in Somerset (almost at the side of the M5). I had been fishing for many hours when a Swan drifted up to me, got out of the water, and sat down by the side of me, as if to either keep me company or have me as its companion.

Wonderful moment especially when i got my sandwiches out later in the day and it moved its huge neck across my lap to almost beg for something to eat (which I obliged of course).

Anything that brings you the feeling of one with nature is a magic moment to me and thankfully I have had many moments like that.

John

[nightshade]

That is exactly what seperates the "I walked along there and did not see anythings" from the Fourwings and Johns of this world

[pheonix]

also its often when you do just take that extra five or ten minutes to sit and take your surroundings in that you get a reward of seeing more than you thought you would aswell!