#JusJoJan22 - 6th January - Anticipation

Go here for all the details on the Just Jot it January challenge.

Today's prompt is anticipation and in anticipation of rain later I opted to get out for a walk before lunch.

It's very cold here today - frost everywhere first thing but in my winter coat that was bought for the cold of Vermont and Montreal it didn't feel that bad to me.  I was also wearing a hat which I find makes a big difference.  I forgot my gloves but my coat has wrist warmers so I was actually fine.  I was anticipating feeling cold but by the time I got home I was warm and toasty.

I wanted to check out the lake as there were reports yesterday of one of the cygnets being rescued from its parents.  There are a pair of swans on our lake and the male is very territorial.  Last year they had 7 cygnets and these are virtually fully grown adults now.  Apparently, in anticipation of the next breeding season, the adult male is now encouraging or rather bullying the cygnets to find their own home.  I guess it's a bit like adult birds kicking fledglings out of the nest so that they fly but it can seem a bit extreme.

I took this photo last week when there still appeared to be 7 cygnets on the lake.

I also snapped this one of a grotto set up not far from us on the edge of the woodland by the lake.

Ok digressing!

The pictures above are of the parent swans.  It was hard to get a good photo of them as they were so busy preening themselves!

I spotted these two cygnets a lot further down the lake, I hoped safe from the attention of the male parent but as I tried to get a better picture they flew off to the bottom of the lake but still a distance away from the adults.

And finally I spotted this cygnet on the other side of the lake.

Hopefully that means that 4 of them have moved away to safety and hopefully these 3 will find their own new homes soon and won't need rescuing.  Watch this space.