A mother swan uses her beak to poke at the cracked shell of one of her eight yet-to-be-hatched cygnets at Bayfront Park.

The first egg hatched just after 3:30 p.m. Friday and two more followed in close succession around 5:30, with a fourth cygnet making its debut around 7:30. The eighth cygnet hatched about 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Photos by Cathie Coward, The Hamilton Spectator

A mother swan uses her beak to poke at the cracked shell of one of her eight unhatched cygnets.

For the first few hours Friday afternoon there was only one hatched baby swan in the nest.

The second cygnet to hatch is inspected by it's mom.

The first of the eight cygnets born Friday at Bayfront Park is already dry and fluffy by 5:30 p.m. when the second one hatches.

The male swan keeps watch as the female keeps the hatching eggs and the newborn cygnets warm in the nest.

By 6:30pm a third signet has hatched and the beak of a forth one is protruding from another egg.

Momma swan does a head count as her cygnets begin to emerge from their eggs Friday afternoon.

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One of the newly hatched babies is making an early connection to a younger sibling.

Safe under mom's wing.

Four of the eight cygnets try to climb onto the back of the mother swan while the other four remain hidden beneath her.

The eighth and final cygnet was born Saturday at approximately 12:30 pm.

Cygnets watch as mom preens her feathers. Apparently you can never be too young to be taught good grooming techniques in the swan world.