Good morning feathered friends from Australia! How we all doing today?
Today's post is about the Australian Swan.
Did you know that prior to the discovery of Australia black swans were perceived to be mythical creatures. In fact in the old world unicorns were more plausible to exist than black swans.
When the Dutch arrived in Australia in the 1600s they fled quickly as they saw animals that jumped, land that was red and swans that were black! They were convinced that the Australian continent was cursed and not of this world.
Even Roman's believed that all swans were white and any deviation from this was as likely to produce a purple cow then a black swan.
For thousands of years people could not perceive swans to be any other colour than white.
As stated in a previously I reside near man made wet lands which have become a native habitat for many birds. The black swan is in abundance and at current it is birthing season.
During lockdown the black swan has become a life saver to my 3 yr old and me. As we are allowed out for 1hr a day exercise.
So we travel along the wet lands and we have watched a few pairs construct nests and lay eggs.
Two of the three nests we have come to watch over time have been successful producing 4 baby black swans each.
One of the nests sadly were taken by a storm and toppled over.
I think it's quite fitting that for many millennia people referred to "black swan events" as something out of this world has now become our saviour.
What are your thoughts on the black swan? Have you seen one before? Do these images strike you as odd?
