Swans in the Green

Last year the swans did not breed in St Stephen's Green (Dublin).  I missed them terribly so was thrilled to see a new family again this year.  I always walk through the park on my way to work in the morning (I like it at that time when it has just opened and I have it almost to myself).  This year I've been able to follow the progress of the little family as the cygnets have matured.

I kept forgetting to bring my camera with me after I first spotted them so I did not get any photos of the 'day old chick' stage.  They cygnets were already a couple of weeks old before I eventually remembered to put the camera in my bag before I left for work.
 

They are such a wonderfully close-knit family unit.  The two adult swans are perfect parents - constantly protective and devoted to their young.

  

I love the way they swim in formation - usually with one parent in the lead and one bringing up the rear.

It is like family life in microcosm and I can't help feeling sad because I know it is for such a limited time.  Usually the park has either one adult swan or at most a breeding pair.  I don't suppose the area is big enough to support increasing numbers of adult birds.  When I watch them they seem so content and so much like a family in human terms.  I know this little idyll will end soon - and that they are blissfully unaware of it.
 

This is quite a strange photo but I think it is quite effective so I decided to include it.

These last pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago.   More and more white is starting to appear and the cygnets are almost full grown.  They live such a charmed and cosseted life here.  I hope when they are taken away that they end up somewhere equally as nice.

A bit of a gangly ballerina!  Eventually this one figured out where its leg was supposed to go, but for a while it kept flapping it awkwardly across its back.

Shop sign with two swans at the top of Grafton Street near to the entrance of the park.