The pond attracts other migrating and wannabe nesters - Canada geese, various ducks and wading birds such as great blue herons searching for frogs, fish and other tasty tidbits for a meal, always found in healthy ponds.
But this swan is a male, and his mate (for life) is nesting herself. Sir Swan is not in favour of sharing is home, or even his area and swims determined - wings raised behind him to make him appear larger - threatening this Canada goose and also me across the road trying to capture an image.
Two years ago a little later in the spring, there were five or six goslings and when I stopped to snap a photo, Sir Swan climbed out of the pond. He marched, hissing all the way, across a length of lawn to the side of the road and clambered up the bank to the road, making me hotfoot it back to the safety of the car!
The geese know they can fly away quickly but stay carefully on the bank because the swan is a strong swimmer. So the pair of geese pace the bank's edge as Sir Swan floats back and forth in front of them daring them to put a webbed toe into the water.
It's a standoff- but lots of fun.
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Once again my computer and the internet accesshave stopped my posting another photo with this particular blog. Internet access has been so spotty that I'm only able to post once in a while otherwise I'm kicked off before I can get a word out. Most frustrating.
However a new provider has been contacted and hopefully I'll be able to post with some regularity before too long.
Thank you for stopping by and please accept my apologies for not having a daily post for the past few months... For those of you enjoying a long holiday weekend beginning today - have a super one.
As you know the swans are not indigenous and may pose a problem for other waterfowl because they are so aggressive, nonetheless, a wonderful expose on a natural conflict!
ReplyDeleteHello Bill - the interesting thing about this pair is that throughout the non-breeding time, summer fall and winter I guess, these swans share their food and home quite freely. The big feeder in winter near two ponds is visited at different times by different birds, with the swans of course taking priority but allowing the others access as well. And yes these big birds are very aggressive... though not too prevalent in our area yet.
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