Earlier this year I posted we’re expecting when two of the feathered residents built a nest and laid a clutch of eggs in the lower pond at Sydney Park.
To understand the level of local excitement and ‘ownership’, you have to know the royal couple, christened Henry & Matilda, have their own Facebook page… Sydney Park Swans
The park is my morning daily walking route, and a lovely stroll on a Sunday with the G.O., so we were able to conveniently keep an eye on the happenings. And happenings there were… a saga worthy of a soap opera: hope, tragedy, recovery, and triumph.
Sadly, in June’s winter rain, the nest and eggs in the lower pond were flooded. An interloper swan ‘Trudy the Intruder’ tried to tempt Henry away from struggling Matilda and their unborn progeny into her feathered clutches – Trudy secretly wooing Henry on neighbouring ponds – Matilda ousting the hussy from the home pond and away from fickle Henry.
Henry resisted the temptations of young Trudy. He and Matilda moved to the middle pond, built a new nest and started again.
A couple of days ago, the cygnets hatched. It’s early days yet, but 4 out of the 5 are doing ok and enchanting their fans, doing the circuit of the pond with mum & dad.
I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling.
The Ugly Duckling, Hans Christian Andersen
daleleelife101.blog 
Cute cute cute!
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Thanks 🙂 It’s been a long wait since June to post this installment…
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Did you have to restrain yourself from hugging them? When my friend and I went to the Hamakua Marsh I had to sit on my hands as the little chicks passed by. The parents trusted my friend and I so much that they brought their little chicks near us once everyone went home.
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Nice that the feathered residents of Hamakua Marsh were so friendly. The cygnets are very huggable but mum & dad swan even though they trust us to feed them bread, would have been most upset by any hugging.
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How fantastic to have witnessed that. We get lots of ducks around here, and we all stop on the road for them, but I don’t know where they nest. Great images.
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It’s been great. The ducks are cute too, and there will be ducklings also before long, but the swans steal the show. Most of the waterbirds at Sydney Park nest in the reeds in the wetlands. It’s a tenous existence even in the park as there are eels, crows, hawks, and stupid dog owners…
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Nice photos
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Thanks! They are very photogenic 🙂
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Lovely. Can’t remember the last time I saw water fowl. Nearest I get are my chickens 🙂 and my handsome cockerel.
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Thank you. I’m fond of chickens, and loved chook-sitting for our previous neighbour’s ‘girls’. These swanny-stars made the news via the local Inner West Courier magazine plus an article in the Daily Telegraph. I think it’s nice as community we have the capacity to appreciate them and be excited by their presence in our world. This morning, they were at the bridge on my walk – there are 3 now, plus the parents, and I still get a thrill from being able to get so close to them 🙂
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Baby everythings are adorable. But those baby swans are so precious and fuzzy that looking at their picture gives me a tactile sense of how it would feel to touch those soft feathery backs. Wonderful!
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Thank you. They are 1 month + one week old now & “we’ still have 3 going strong 🙂
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