Black Swans Incubating at Echo Lake

On Thursday, February 6, we finished our dinner early and went to Echo Lake area for a walk. It was still bright. A family of 4 black swans was wandering on the paved road on east side of the lake. When they reached a gate which blocked their path, they paused for a few seconds and turned around. They walked toward the lake shore. Apparently they were exploring the surroundings.

They are so used to human, they may pause for a moment if people are too close to them, they are otherwise oblivious to the pedestrians around them. Nothing special.

When we turned the corner and walked toward the boardwalk over the lake, we were pleasantly surprised to see an adult male swan standing over a nest with 5 eggs inside! It was the first time I witnessed the black swan incubating. Another adult, female, black swan was nearby, eating its dinner!

Black swan parents take turns to incubate. 

How could I tell the black swan's gender? Male black swan is typically larger in size, and has a bright red beak, the female has a pinkish beak. Since the two black swans were not standing side by side, I identified the gender by the color of their beaks.

While we were there, the male swan did not really sit on the eggs, but just stood over it. Another interesting observation was that there was a turtle next to the eating swan. I saw the turtle inched forward to the dish, and eventually started to eat the swan's dish. The swan initially did not do anything, having its own meal until the turtle tried to get into the dish. The swan pecked the turtle, the turtle retreated a few inches away from the dish. The swan continued eating.

The turtle was eating swan's food

We took quite a few pictures there. When we were leaving, the 4 black swans we saw earlier, were in the water now, two in the front, closer to us, two in the back.

On Saturday morning February 8, I went back to the lake to check on the incubating swans. The nest was fenced by a black screen to reduce the disturbance to the incubating swans and the eggs.

This time, it was the mum swan incubated the eggs, sitting on them, not standing over. The dad swan was eating quite a bit far away from the nest. A turtle was near the eating swan again, a clever parasite!

The other 4 swans were around as well, walking on the paved road!

the mum swan sat on the eggs, did the real incubation

the picture was taken over the black screen

the dad swan was eating with a turtle nearby in the water

​Unexpectedness and Serendipity make wildlife watching thrilling and exciting

Notes -

1) more information can be found in a blog about swans in general 

2) facts about black swans - native to Australia and New Zealand, lifespan ~ 40 years, incubation 35-48 days, when hatching, baby black swans, cygnets have grey hairs, fledging 150 - 170 days, they reach sexual maturity in 18-36 months for reproduction.