By adamg on Tue., 6/1/2021 - 3:23 pm
The Esplanade Association reports she died last night, and that a Boston animal-control officer was able to remove her body "while the father swan sat at the nest with their cygnets tucked under his wings."
Paddy G reports the two were forced to raise their young amidst man-made filth along the riverbank.
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Also where are ducklings and
By Notfromboston
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 4:06pm
Also where are ducklings and baby geese in the Jamaica Pond?
Check You Local Coyote, Raccoon, and Cat's Bellies
By John Costello
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 4:12pm
Hunters are going to hunt.
More likely man made filth...
By Lee
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:10pm
... as Paddy reports. Maybe strangled by the ear loops of a cast off face mask.
Coyotes, raccoons and kitty cats are easy scapegoats and rarely attack large water birds.
Predators go for the babies
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:34pm
The pair on the Mystic who have a particular ire for standup paddleboarders have lost babies in the past to that lineup of creatures - but not the parents.
The parents got very mean after they failed to fledge a single baby in their first year. Much success in the intervening years.
There are almost no birds
By Notfromboston
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:19pm
There are almost no birds left in the Jamaica Pond. I doubt animal predators are to blame.
Perhaps ...
By adamg
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:57pm
If you want to bullshit, you might choose a topic for which there's a better chance nobody will call you out on.
I'm typing this as I sit on a bench on the Perkins Street side of the pond. It's true, there are no baby ducks or geese this year, which, yes, is odd, but there are plenty of birds around here, including two swans, a heron and more geese than I'd care to count. Also some ducks, although I didn't see the black one that pals around with one of the mallards (saw her yesterday, though). Oh, and cormorants.
So three birds and some geese
By Notfromboston
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 8:04pm
So three birds and some geese?
Reading is fundamental
By adamg
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 9:24pm
Try rereading what I wrote. I saw more than three birds, even if you don't consider geese birds, which I guess is an ethos.
They're like this *all the time*
By Tim Mc.
Wed, 06/02/2021 - 8:43am
and I don't think I've ever seen them add something constructive to the comments section.
Fewer goslings in part because of a ....
By Lee
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:14pm
.... goose egg addling program. Don’t know about the ducks.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_egg_addling
If the geese are gonna stick around...
By CopleyScott17
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 7:17pm
..I hope they do get some predators. They're handsome, majestic creatures, but they are crap factories
Aren’t we all crap factories?
By Lee
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 9:06pm
Aren’t we all crap factories?
Most of us have access to bathrooms.
By CopleyScott17
Wed, 06/02/2021 - 5:11am
Thankfully.
Crap is crap.
By Lee
Wed, 06/02/2021 - 1:49pm
Crap is crap.
Mute Swans
By Steve D
Tue, 06/01/2021 - 6:30pm
Mute swans are invasive and can negatively impact areas they move into, primarily because of how much aquatic vegetation they consume.
I’m no expert so you can do a search for actual facts/data. But I have an anecdote, a few years back a breeding pair took over a “pond†area of the Shawsheen river where my sister lives. The area went from vibrant with wildlife and aquatic plants to desolate. Ducks, turtles, frogs all noticeably absent. No more lily pads or cattails, etc.
So when I hear about swans showing up somewhere I don’t consider it good news.
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