Swans, Swans and a Duck

One morning on our recent Viking cruise on the Rhine, we woke up at mooring near Breisach, Germany and found ourselves surrounded by swans.

Well, not just swans: a duck was among them, instantly reminding me of the story of The Ugly Duckling.

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I routinely stand accused of being fascinated by birds, and I am quick to photograph them, although I’m no birdwatcher, and can barely tell any of the songbirds apart from each other.

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Still, there’s something about a swan, an elegance that persists even when you can see their ungainly feet and knobby heads. Even when you see them in huge bulk as we did a few years ago at the Abbotsbury Swannery in England.

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As for the duck, who seemed to me (and perhaps to the swans) just one of the crowd—well, no beauty, and possibly had been an ugly duckling when he was a duckling.

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They seemed to have a real attachment to the ship, sailing close to it, and even turning occasionally to the click of my shutter. I thought that perhaps they had become accustomed to handouts near the dock, but none were offered and no one squawked.

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Eventually, we went off to breakfast; when we returned only a couple of them were in view, and they soon paddled off.

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Perhaps they had an appointment to put on their show at another pier, another town…

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