Whooping Swans in Finland.
The white swans season here in Nordic Finland is cooling down. Most of the warm weather has already gone this time around. There are many picture perfect days still to come in this summer, and the waters are calm on the lakes and the seashores of the Bothnian Sea (Bottenhavet/Pohjanlahti).
Calm waters and white swans paddling in the warmth of summer.
The white swan is often used symbolically, here is some info from Wikipedia. “The Flag of the Nordic Council is white, with a stylised circular motif of a white swan upon a blue (Pantone Reflex Blue C) disk. The Swan has enough wing feathers standing for the eight members and territories of the Council: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland“.
“The swan symbol was chosen to represent the Nordic Council, and the Nordic Council of Ministers, in 1984. It is also designed to symbolize wider Nordic cooperation. The flag was designed by Kyösti Varis, an artist from Finland”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Nordic_Council
Here is a link to a video that I took of a single pair of White Swans, known as the Whooping Swans (Cygnus, Cygnus).
This pair of swans that I was observing did not seem to have any baby swans with them (called cygnets). I hope you enjoy the video on YouTube.