Ugly Ducklings?

How can anyone call them ugly! We saw this swan family on the Union Canal today. The cygnets were very curious and came right up to us.

We also saw a female mallard with eight ducklings that looked as though they had just hatched, they were full of curiousity about the world around them and were zipping around at top speed, too speedy to photograph, but oh they were fun to watch!

We saw lots of swallows too, flying around low over the water, chasing insects. They seem to be nesting in the new flats near the canal. Last time we were there we saw house martins, but they didn't seem to be around today. There were also huge numbers of house sparrows, making loads of noise in the hedges, they seemed to have plenty of young. This is great news as in the UK, the house sparrow is declining rapidly in number!

Edinburgh City Council is holding a consultation on the future of the Union Canal. You can read it and add your views here. You can read my recent post about the consultation here.

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