I was visiting the Wasserpark on a sunny day and went to see the birds on the other side of the pond. I noticed that there were just a few ducks hanging around on the water. There wasn´t even other birds that used to be there, perhaps they went back home since the month of September was still warmer.
At any rate, I lured the ducks to come to my side by whistling to them, the ducks came but still no swans. I had with me just a few dried bread cubes to give so they would come nearer, which they did. A few moments later, one swan came towards my direction.
One swan which seemed to be the leader, swiftly appeared from the right side of the pond and came directly in front of me waiting to be given something... The first swan was followed by one more white and two more with brown feathers... the latter which I think were the two youngsters in the pack really looked so young because each of the beak were underdeveloped and have had pale color. I have thought they were a family!
A few years back, there had been no prohibition to feed them. The feeding months were specified at the entrance and the visitors were allowed to feed the birds from November to March (winter time). The locals came here to feed them and at that time there were so many birds in and around the Park.
I didn´t realize that the water in the pond at Wasserpark had been cleared and filtered recently and that the water that is being circulated to the Wasserpark comes from the old Danube.
Source: translated from German-Google
The feeding of waterfowl on the Viennese waters with grain, corn, stale bread, rolls is prohibited.. In addition, since there are unnaturally large crowds of birds at the feeding places, the risk of disease transmission also increases. Another reason to refrain from feeding is the damage it causes to the waters. Because leftovers destroy the biological balance of the water.
Intensive feeding attracts numerous waterfowl, whose poops significantly affect the quality of the water. In addition, the leftover food is a heavy burden on the water.
The result is an over-fertilization of the water with organic material and nutrients. The oxygen is withdrawn from the water, which is essential for the plants, fish and other organisms living in the water. The biological balance is destroyed. It often takes many months before such bodies of water can be rehabilitated.
After picking the few bread, their interest in the bread cubes were not that much, perhaps because they were not hungry and were just curious what commotions were there as the ducks gathered on my side.
And so, as swiftly as they came, they also left so swiftly like falling in line and followed their leader and marched towards the other direction...bye bye and away from me and away from the ducks who were just looking on at a distance showing respect from this swan family as if giving way for them to exit the scene.
@mers.
@gremayo
@barbara-orenya for this banner.