Seven Weeks with a Swan Family

I didn't know it then, but March 25 would become the beginning of a story I would spend the next seven weeks documenting.

A pair of swans I had watched throughout the cold winter months somehow led me to the beginning of their nest. From that first day, I was in awe. I had no idea then what an incredible journey I was about to experience.

A few days each week for those seven weeks, I would load my cart with my filmmaking gear and make the 20-minute walk to the nest. A couple of weeks later, a chair was added to the cart as my visits became longer. Then came extra clothing for the rain, and eventually preparations for the bugs as winter finally gave way to spring.

And as the weeks passed, something else was happening around me.

Spring migration had begun.

Birds were returning, bringing even more life and beauty to the area surrounding the nest. Cardinals, orioles, warblers and so many others became part of those mornings. Their sounds..their songs added a calmness to the early mornings. I had gone there for the swans, but because I stayed, I began noticing everything happening around them.

Could this place become even more beautiful?

Apparently, it could.

There were times when I simply sat beside the nest and watched.

I watched a pair of swans communicate in their own way as they waited for the arrival of their young. I watched the male stay closer to the nest as the weeks passed. I watched the female become a little more restless each day. Small changes began telling me that perhaps the moment we had all been waiting for was getting closer.

Then, on May 12, the cygnets were born.

I like to say that during those seven weeks, the swans shared their world with me.

I was there as they built their nest. I watched the male patrol the area and protect his family. I watched the female continually shape the nest, pulling and adding reeds and carefully turning her eggs.

To simply say they worked as a team would be an understatement.

I was only an observer. I never knew what each morning would bring. I just kept showing up—with my camera, my cart and eventually that chair—and allowed their story to unfold in front of me.

Looking back now, I realize something.

I wasn't there only to make a film.

For seven weeks, I was given the opportunity to slow down, to watch, to listen and to witness the beginning of a new family.

The swans shared their world with me.

I was the blessed one.

Follow the link below to watch their journey unfold in my film, Nest Building to Birth | A Swan Family Story.