The return of the swans

[dianeduane]

Swans have nested in the little pond behind our house for at least fifty years...perhaps longer. In 2005, one of the pair who'd been coming back to nest every spring suddenly died of natural causes (old age, the local vet thought). His or her mate -- no way to tell which it was; swans are tough to sex -- stayed on the pond for months, returning again and again to the spot where it had last seen its mate alive. It returned last year, too, still looking for its counterpart.

This year it seems not to have come back. But two youngsters have arrived. Here's a minute of video courtesy of YouTube: Swan Trek, theNext Generation...

 

Comments

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

black swans are even harder to sex - bnecause a huge proportion of the pairs are homosexual. Who then proceed to chase off other pairs and adopt the nests. So parentage in blackswans is kind of complicatedm, because this goes on and on and on.. the kids do great tho - the most aggressive gay pair monopolise the most productive part of the lake, and their forcefully adopted offspring get the benefit.