Trying for a good take off .... unsuccessful!

It would take hundreds of photos and even more words to describe the movements of the two swans in the loch this morning.

When I arrived they were up in the small area of open water at the shadowed end of the loch but one was not content to stay there. In the water they are graceful but they most certainly are not as the struggle to keep their feet on the ice once they have managed to clamber up.

Swan No1 walked a bit, rested for a bit and then struggled again to get to its feet. One enormous effort and with wings flapping it managed to get a few inches off the ice but the flight didn't last long.

To cut a very long, rather boring story short both swans eventually made it to the warmer, sunnier area of the loch where there was another area of open water and the chance that some youngsters might come along with some tasty morsels.