This week’s photo challenge is Partners. On our weekend sailing trip to Espoo’s Stora Herrö island, I was excited to see partners live in action.
A swan couple and their little chicks were near the shore.
Here it seems they are checking out that none of their babies are missing.
In unison, they go onwards.
Swans are such magnificent creatures but they also have quite a temper!
Did you know that a whooper swan is Finland’s national bird? These partners are not whoopers but mute swans. The swan is not actually mute but apparently it’s less vocal than other swan species out there, hence the name.
Look at that one baby chick reaching out for the stars!
Off they go towards new adventures.
Where have you spotted swans last?
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
Swans are such majestic birds – how lucky to catch the whole family! Lovely pictures! I last saw swans in the spring, flying above me, back to Finland from their long migration. What a sight and sound it was!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sinikka 🙂 I can only imagine the sound those swans made, what a great sighting!
LikeLike
Elegant captures. Thank you for sharing beautiful pictures!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – these were taken on a beautiful island and little goslings never look bad in photos 🙂 Lovely of you to visit my blog!
LikeLike
spotted today at our local park lake 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great Dom! Many swans around with goslings at the moment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely photos Suvi – we see swans often in England and I always admire them but you are correct, some of them can be quite nasty if you walk too close!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s true, better keep our distance and photograph from afar 😉
LikeLike
We are so used to see ducks! But swans? Not so much! Probably that’s why I always get excited when I see some, even in pictures! Nice pics!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Ali – ducks are also aplenty in Finland, we always see some when sailing!
LikeLike
what a cute family, lovely captures, Suvi… 🙂
I didn’t know about whooper swans and mute swans… it’s amazing you can tell the difference… I can’t even remember when I have last seen swans…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well I must admit I had to google a bit 😛
LikeLike
What a lovely family!
We have usually swans nesting on the way to our summerhouse in the archipelago but no you made me realise I didn’t see any swans yesterday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds lovely! I often find myself taking ducks/swans for granted but now that there are little baby chicks out there I notice them more 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love these! Had geese and ducks in our pond for years~ grew to be part of the family. Nice photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow that sounds wonderful, I assume you had a pond in your yard? Thank you for visiting my blog 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Suvi! (love your name!). Yes, we had a couple of acres of land, in suburban world..and the first thing my boys wanted to do was get a backhoe and dig. Thus, we did. We had chickens too…lots of them (all named, of course). It was a lovely time, and I miss that house….but not the yardwork it required! Plus, the fowl can poop everywhere!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the compliment on my name, it actually is an oldfashioned way of saying summer in Finnish 😛 Oh gosh, I don think I could do with the poop! We are moving to a house in the Fall, I plan to stick with regular yardwork 😉
LikeLike
Good Good idea! We are moving too, or hope to toward the coast. Will be renting while we search for a house~I am not looking forward to renting though. I love our cottage here and my gardens (sans ducks, geese and chickens)..but alas, can not move the homestead THERE! Love that your name means summer…perfect! Mine is Koma and no one knows what it means! in ANY language, and lots have tried! ha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh do tell what Koma means? 😎
LikeLike
OH, if only I truly knew….let’s say something terribly exotic, wild, and strong!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds good to me! 😊
LikeLike
Good word, I couldn’t figure out why the goslings were so many colors. I guess my eyes are still sore, upon inspection I see half of those are rocks. 🙂
Nice post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s quite many of them there, I was surprised myself. No wonder they have to look this way and that to keep the goslings together 😉 Thank you for your visit and lovely comment.
LikeLike
They are really pretty! I have no idea when I last saw a swan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Camila ❤ I can't recall when I saw the actual national swan of Finland, these ones I've seen about quite a bit lately.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely family! I didn’t know that kyhmyjoutsen is mute swan in english.Qui a big family, six chicks? In our region we have whooper swans in every lake. I love them, at night is great to hear them ” talking” on the nearby river.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, it must be that the whoopers are louder as these ones are called mute swans. I didn’t hear them utter a thing! I think there were seven goslings actually 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person