Swan Lake pas de deux or Heartbroken*

            Courtship dance. A pen and cob in love. Dance of the Big Swans.  Synchronised swimming. 

Minutes before this photo was taken, the pen was tenderly tending to a clutch of four eggs in the grassy verge of the pond, a little closer than the right hand corner here. After some minutes, she entrusted her eggs to the balmy sunshine, and waddled clumsily into the water where the cob had been idling all the while. When she reached him, the two immediately fell into a smooching greeting of clear affection. This turned into a formal amorous dance. They entwined their necks, alternately bobbing one head below the other's beak and nuzzling the top of its head under the other's neck, then briefly scooping the water with their heads just under the water. Occasionally, they mimicked each other's posture, but I failed to capture a moment where they made a heart shape like so _❤️_. This was the nearest I got. (Hence the alternative title.*)  The sunshine caught in the circular ripples around them made me think of a spotlight on stage dancers. Reflections of the cob's beak and perhaps its tail are just visible in the disturbed water.  They went on for so long that we had to leave them to it...

These black swans are native to Australia. They mate for life, they can breed at any time of the year (autumn on this occasion), and they share nest duties. They are more slender than white swans and are certainly not "mute". Apparently, they make a range of sounds, but the one I am familiar with is a lovely soft clarinet-like note, which is perhaps not surprising, given the length and thickness of their necks.

Taken in: Australia / ACT / Gibraltar (show map)

Taken on: March 19, 2022

Tags:

Swan

Black Swan

Cob

Courtship

Display

ACT

Australia

Australian Capital Territory

Nature Reserve

Canberra

Tidbinbilla

Sanctuary

Red Speck

Waterbird

Breeding

Sunshine

Bright

Sunlight

Pond

Wetland

Water

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Camera: Apple iPhone 8 Plus, f/2.8, 1/121 sec, 6.6mm, ISO 25 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Apple iPhone 8 Plus
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/121)
Focal Length:	6.6mm
ISO:	25
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	15.1
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