a word from the 1907 edition of The King's English Dictionary meaning 'the swimming bird'.
visited the pond last night to see how the swan family was doing. there are still three babies, all looking grown up. i wonder when they will start to go on their own. it took the mother a full hour before she got out of their hidden nest among the reeds and it made me wonder if there was another set of hatchlings to be expected. partner said they only mate and reproduce once a year. i have to research that.
here's father swan as he nestled beside me on the boardwalk. people were quite amused as i talked to him and he sort of purred and rubbed his head against my knee while taking photos of the cygnets. at one time, he gathered all three to come near me. one woman got bitten by this guy when she tried to pet him, but it was after he got so puffed up after seeing a big dog. he and mother swan could get quite vicious when dogs are around and i could only hazard a guess that the two little ones were probably killed by a dog during the spring - they started with five in april.
I love swans.