With the demise of our long-time Mute swan pair, Caesar and Cleotoo, and the settling in of Pen and Cob Friendly, we have been visited frequently by transient Mute swans, occasional Tundra or Whistling swans and perhaps even the elusive Trumpeter swan. The latter two have black bills while our Mute’s bills are orange. The swan population in this area is certainly burgeoning.
Pen and Cob are nesting here for the fourth year and have established complete dominance over Greenook Lake. Interlopers only last about five minutes before getting the old “bum’s rush”. The Friendly’s were only absent a few weeks last winter before returning to the spillway and staking their claim on Greenook and picking out the island for a nest site.
The other day I asked Cob if he could be as amazing as a Penguin and hobble around for three months with an egg and then a chick perched on his big feet? He said, “Sure, I can do that. The only trouble is Pen lays eight eggs and I’m a swan, not an Octopus”. With that said, He floated over to Pen and said, “Hi babe, how ya doin? Would you like a sandwich”? Pen lifted her head from beneath a wing and replied, “See that nice green sea-weed patch over yonder? I have a craving for ice cream with sushi”.Coming right up, mother-to-be.
Additional information on swans is available from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/