Herbert
Local celebrity he just love to modal for the camera, even treat his fans to head on flight demonstration, and gets on with humans, some K9 visitors he takes an instant dislike too.
Herbert will climb ashore tap your knee for his special reward as payment for his time.
There are six living and many extinct species of swan
Meet Herbert that’s my pet name for this Mute Swan I have been following and photographing the last few years, watch him change partners, breed with his mate and rising a family of cygnets to full adulthood.
Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are among the largest flying birds.
In the water, food is obtained by up-ending or dabbling, and their diet is composed of the roots, tubers, stems and leaves of aquatic and submerged plants
Mute Swan pairs choose fresh, brackish, and saltwater ponds as breeding sites.
Swans usually mate for life, although "divorce" sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies,
Lifespan/Longevity
The greatest age recorded for a banded mute swan was 19 years. In captivity, they have lived 30 to 40 years.
The greatest age recorded for a banded mute swan was 19 years. In captivity, they have lived 30 to 40 years.
Swans feed in water and on land. They are almost entirely herbivorous, although they may eat small amounts of aquatic animals.
Mute swans eat throughout the day, from sunrise to shortly after sunset. The main food source of mute swans is submerged aquatic vegetation (Figure 9). They also consume small fish, insects and other small animals incidentally along with plants and when plants are sparse.
Habitat. The adaptable Mute Swan can be found in aquatic habitats ranging from urban lakes and farm ponds to coastal estuaries around England.
The largest living species,
Swans can be dangerous I have built up trust with Herbert and his partner he trusts me each year to bring his young cygnets ashore to to meet me always a proud dad.
