Mini Sketchbook Moments - Swan "Jimmi"

One of the joys of living the van life, is being in harmony with nature and wildlife. I am so lucky to be able to live this life. To wake up in the morning to so much singing and chirping, and that being the ONLY thing you can hear is pretty special to me. I still find myself gravitating toward natural spaces even when I have to do the obligatory ‘town runs’ to restock the van and post my parcels.

This weeks resupply and postie run, was no different. I parked up the van at the local lakes, because of all the birds and ample space, it’s the perfect place to have a (reasonably peaceful) cup of tea. Being in urban environments is very energy sapping for me, so to be able to have a bit of respite from the madness, means i’m not utterly exhausted by the end of the day.

The lakes are home to many birds. There’s many pheasants, with their bellies so big and road hogging shenanigans! So many colourful ducks, cheeky water fowl, and there’s always a few pigeons! But never had I seen a massive black swan here before!

A few snaps from my big camera:

The first thing to do is set up the internet and start boiling some water for a cup of tea. The kids started yapping, and trying to get my attention, apparently a ‘monstrous bird’ was getting out of the lake. I turned around expecting some kind avian Nessie situation. They weren’t wrong! I had just scanned the water and was already lining up some potential photography/ painting ideas in my head, and he was not on the water! Having no idea where he materialised from, I watched him haul his heavy body from the water, in awe of his size. I said to the kids “I swear he’s making a beeline to straight to the van!”

It wasn’t unusual in this spot for birds to approach people for food. But a mega-swan? “Jimmi”, as we had now nicknamed him, was King of these lakes. All the other birds that were hanging around started moving en masse, gracefully allowing the King to pass through. What a sight.

I know you’re not supposed to feed animals, but I completely lost my head with this amazing bird, and before I knew it I was hand feeding him some sourdough. I admit it, I was weak! This funny guy, had the face and personality you just couldn’t refuse! (I keep saying he, but it could be a she, I have no idea). He spent almost half an hour with us this morning, he did talk to us at one point, so much more polite than the geese, who prefer to honk-scare their listeners!

Suddenly the mega-swan had had enough of being social (don’t blame him there), and made his way back to the water. What a lovely experience, I had to record it in some way. Hence this Journal entry, and an entry into my handmade mini sketchbook. I have a feeling Jimmi will be coming up in stories for years to come.

A couple of reference images from my phone and my mini Jimmi gouache painting:

I hope Jimmi made you smile, and brightened your day, as he did mine!

~Karlie.