Swans on ice

By Nordic standards, this season hasn’t been much of a winter in our corner of the world. For a while, it seemed the weather was turning towards spring but now the report confirmed that will not be the case just yet. We’ve been rather busy and haven’t been to the sea lately. When we last drove there some ten days ago or so we found it was ice covered practically all the way to the shipping lane that is being kept open through winter thanks to regular cargo service.

Suddenly, we heard something we weren’t expecting in those conditions: the sound of the flapping wings of a swan. We spotted a pair and soon another one flying towards the rocks off the coast. A closer look revealed there were others on the far side of the large rocks. There probably was a tiny unfrozen area there providing some nutrition for the little colony that had decided to try their luck and stay put.

A few single ones were resting or pacing on the ice by the shore as if checking the situation before continuing to the safe haven by the rocks. It must be a full-time occupation for the venturesome swans to find enough to eat here this time of the year.