Swan parents nurture a precious cygnet

Cardigan, Wales I saw the cob and pen paddling in golden light, between them a single, black-billed ball of grey down The bell-beat of mute swans’ wings came with a grey dawn in early March. A pair of swans touched down in the river Teifi’s tidal reaches upstream of Cardigan town bridge. On wind-ruffled waters they kept proximity, gliding around in search of food, accompanied at respectful distance by small flocks of teal and unruly gangs of mallard drakes.The old shipwright from the