Second Egg Laid

We were delighted to see that the swan couple had an additional egg in their nest. There still might be a further egg laid or even a fourth before things start getting serious and incubation starts in earnest. Occasionally the swan doing the 'sitting' would raise and reveal the nest contents (below) and we had a few opportunities to see these two eggs. Roberto the goose patrol paid a friendly visit. For a goose, this one seems pretty friendly and calm. Our visits to the wetland are made all the more richer with what we discover each time. 

White Faced Heron

"Sorry Roberto, I'll bring some grated carrot next time."

"OK, but don't forget."

Swans Are Laying

On our last visit to the nearby wetland we were delighted to discover that the local swan couple have laid an egg. Last year they laid three. Unless there are a few more eggs on the way there will be only one cygnet. Since the one egg has been allowed to stay 'cool' there may still be more. It is nice to see the pair produce again. Barb described the large egg colour 'powder blue with a touch of turquoise. It is wonderful that the swans have chosen a nest position that gives us a good view. The 'exposed' view is a tradeoff for the swans to have a location far more protected from the winter winds.

It is a pity that some people have no respect for the environment.

Goose patrol

Cormorant overseer

Family Catch-up

With the isolation restrictions lifted a little our family came together for a meal and a board game afterward; lovely memories and plenty of family fun.

Noah's Ark

Recently at a community online gathering we were fascinated at the sheer size of the original Ark that Noah was required to make to prepare for the great flood over the land. The dimensions were given and the type of wood and number of decks. This family made a scale size model to match the plastic animals that their child played with and shared their experience with everybody else (below). The result is breathtaking reflecting a construction that seems similar in size to the Empire State Building on its side! We were made to appreciate why it took Noah 100 years to make it. He must have had an engineering mind or it could have developed "Titanic" cracks. Peter made the drawing (above) and added numerous exotic animals on the three decks. He added a totally inadequate food and water storage deck under these decks for the ten months they stayed cooped up. As he drew it he wondered how all these "calm" animals and humans managed to hold it together. This is a few notches above our present isolation experiences in terms of resilience. There were only a few windows at the very top of the ark and according to the biblical story one of them was only opened at the end of ten months to let out the raven and the dove. It would have taken some time to adjust to the outside glare! There are now many more questions that arise from this pondering but that must be for another time. 

Joseph Tests His Brothers

This is a very engaging story and comes from Genesis 42 to 45 in the Bible. Peter has a fascination about this story over many final chapters of Genesis. Peter made two videos of the actual 'test' of the brothers. The actors are dolly pegs! Some of the video sections are made with stop motion camera. The story of the test is in two parts and you can view can view them HERE and HERE.