Soon to Be Family of Seven

This pair of whooper swans (cygnus cygnus) is getting ready for its eggs to hatch. Please click on the photo to see the whole picture. 

Morgunblaðið photographer Eggert Jóhannesson took this beautiful picture of the happy couple on an islet in the Elliðaár rivers in Reykjavík last week. He counted five eggs in their nest. The cygnets are expected to hatch in the coming weeks.

According to fuglavefur.is, they will be born gray, but start turning white the latter part of winter. Males and females look alike, although the male is somewhat larger.

Whooper swans are the only swans in Iceland. They breed all over the country, near lakes and rivers. Late in summer, the swans lose all their flight feathers at once, making them flightless for a while.

Most of them migrate to the British Isles in fall – mainly to Ireland. You can see a number of beautiful photos of whooper swans in Iceland here.