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Female Esplanade swan dies, leaving father to care for cygnets

By adamg on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 3:23pm

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.

Neighborhoods: 
Back Bay
Free tagging: 
Wildlife
Swans
Esplanade
Charles River


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Comments

By Notfromboston on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 4:06pm.

Also where are ducklings and baby geese in the Jamaica Pond?

By John Costello on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 4:12pm.

Hunters are going to hunt.

By Lee on 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.

By SwirlyGrrl on 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.

By Notfromboston on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 5:19pm.

There are almost no birds left in the Jamaica Pond. I doubt animal predators are to blame.

By adamg on 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.

By Notfromboston on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 8:04pm.

So three birds and some geese?

By adamg on 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.

By Tim Mc. on Wed, 06/02/2021 - 8:43am.

and I don't think I've ever seen them add something constructive to the comments section.

By Lee on 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

By CopleyScott17 on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 7:17pm.

..I hope they do get some predators. They're handsome, majestic creatures, but they are crap factories

By Lee on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 9:06pm.

Aren’t we all crap factories?

By CopleyScott17 on Wed, 06/02/2021 - 5:11am.

Thankfully.

By Lee on Wed, 06/02/2021 - 1:49pm.

Crap is crap.

By Steve D on 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.