Let me tell you about the Swan family first. Every year that we've lived here we get a couple of swan visitors who stop by on their way back from where ever they've spent the winter to where ever they go for the summer. Every year we hope our beautiful guests will decide to stay instead of just stopping by on their way through. Our hopes and wishes that they would find our river more appealing than their other home have always led to disappointment. But not this year. This year they did decide to stay!
After seeing Mr. and Mrs. Swan on the river in late winter, we noticed them hanging around together for several weeks.
We got excited by the possibility that they were here to stay, since they usually only hang around for a couple of weeks and then move on. Then we only saw Mr. Swan for a while and got a little nervous that maybe something had happened to Mrs. Swan. But apparently Mrs. Swan was otherwise occupied, because last weekend we were greeted by the Swan family on Swan Babies' first outing!
They were so cute and fuzzy and we felt so blessed that Mama and Papa Swan would bring them by to meet us. A whole week went by in which we didn't see them, so we were afraid that maybe something had happened to the little family. But this morning we were overjoyed to see Mama and Papa and the Swan Babies again. There return was an occasion of mixed emotions though, since sadly there were only two Swan Babies this time. So something must have happened and we think maybe the little family was in mourning.
Of course we are saddened by the loss of such a precious little one, but we are still thrilled that the Swans have come into our life and look forward to spending time with them on the river this summer and watching them grow.
Now we don't want to forget our other new family on the river this year.
Even though they are a little bit older, these Canada Goose Babies are just as cute, and Mommy Goose and Daddy Goose have been just as proud to show them off as the Swans have been.
These guys aren't really babies anymore. They're more like toddlers and don't have any problems climbing up the river bank into the back yard. We don't want to encourage them to do that too much, since they can really make a mess of things, but they are cute and fuzzy and starting to get a little gangly and you just can't resist them.
There is a bit of squabbling between our new neighbors though. Papa Swan doesn't really care very much for Daddy Goose. He makes a big show of fanning out his feathers and giving chase. Everyone else just sits by and watches them honk and splash and carry on and then everything quietens down. We can only hope they'll work things out.
More photos of both families are here. I'll try to keep the set updated regularly as I'm sure there will be plenty of photo-ops to come.
...Brent
