SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Four cygnets were born recently at Bubeck Park in Schuylkill Haven.
"I'm hoping that one will hatch while I'm watching. I've never seen one hatch, that will be so cool," Becky Matz, 61, of Schuylkill Haven, said late Tuesday morning while watching adult swans, Rammy and Rambo, behind a fence.
As of noon, four baby swans were in the nest, along with four eggs, said Helen Seiders, who along with her husband, Paul, are members of the swan patrol and look out for the safety of the couple.
Rammy, the female swan, had eight eggs as of Thursday.
The first two cygnets, or young swans, hatched sometime after 8 p.m. Monday and before 8:40 a.m. Tuesday, Paul said. The other two hatched shortly after Helen and Paul arrived at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday.
Paul said each cygnet could weigh up to a pound.
"They'll get big fast," Paul said.
It is rare for four to be born in close proximity time-wise, he said, adding it usually takes a couple days. The remaining four eggs should hatch shortly, he said.
"There's people coming from all over the county to see this (the eggs hatching)," Paul said.
Rammy and Rambo were flapping their wings and making noises when the second two fluffy cygnets arrived Tuesday.
"I think she loves the babies. I think she lives for the feeling of new life under her," Matz said.
"Look at the baby over there," Kathy Schaffer, Orwigsburg, said to her granddaughters, Tessa Ditzler, 4, and Taylor Ditzler, 3, both of Schuylkill Haven.
The girls moved closer to the fence to see the small cygnets.
Schaffer took Tessa and Taylor to the park to look at the ducks and then noticed the swans.
"Aren't they adorable?" Helen Wingle, 79, of Schuylkill Haven, said as she looked at the gray and white baby swans.
Wingle was there with her daughter-in-law, Rose Wingle, 61, of Schuylkill Haven, on their daily walk in the park.
All the attention did not seem to bother the swans. Rammy would often move around, rotating her remaining eggs to prevent them from being deformed, while Rambo stood close by.
Feeding the swans is a bad idea, Paul said.
"Bread is bad for them" because they can choke, he said.
The baby swans will eat bugs and other things for a time until they are ready to eat their adult food.
The sex of swans will not be known until their wings are clipped to prevent flight when they are about 5 weeks old.
Last year, there were four baby swans that hatched from a nest of seven eggs: one swan baby was killed, one was stolen, one died of lead poisoning and one was given away.