Good (?) Sunday afternoon.

Posted on by Live & Learn

Good (?) Sunday afternoon.

Those of you who follow along with me on this wildly spasmodic blog, you will understand that this Swan couple have become a fixture here (obsession, maybe?). This couple and their cygnets have been a profound source of joy for the neighborhood (and esp. for me).

Swans typically mate for life. They generally return to the same nesting spot year after year. And this pair built their giant nest along the break wall on Weed Avenue again this year. The nest was stood up sometime in mid to late April. (Photo: 5:50 am. May 9, 2026)

So, each morning, I drive down Weed Avenue in anticipation of seeing my friends, and wondering if the cygnets have arrived. And for those of you who are counting, it’s been 2,210 consecutive (almost) days on this morning walk at Cove Island Park, like in a row.

Well….

In otherwise a very tough news year, let’s lay another egg on the pile.

This week’s and today’s relentless rain feels entirely fitting.

Last week, Mom was hit by a car and killed. Animal control removed her eggs and cleared the nest away.

All week, the solitary male has been restlessly searching for his mate along the shoreline.

So, there I stood, in the pouring rain this afternoon, watching him.

He suddenly unfurled his wings—as if to send a signal to his lost mate: until we meet again. (Check out his beautiful performance here.)

Mark Nepo’s closing line in his poem “Adrift” captures the mood: …

“I’m am so sad and everything is beautiful.”

Epilogue / Errata. I was misinformed. Male was killed by an animal. Female cannot incubate and forage on her own. The nest is not longer safe and was swept away to protect the grieving female. Eggs were taken to a rescue center in Westport. Thank you Danusia for providing the update.

42 thoughts on “Good (?) Sunday afternoon.”

  2. Maybe it’s just everything, DK, but this was the capper for me. I read this, and totally unprepared, I gasped and started crying. Where do these dear, newly mateless swans go? I am glad to see you here again, tho, after so long….

  5. so very sad – for both of them, their egg, and the people who enjoyed them. i remember your photos of them over the years that brought smiles but this one tears. Mark Nepo’s say it very well

  7. How did I know you would be sending a poem from Mark Nepo… my kindred friend… ❤️

  8. 😩 Ugh. Too awful. Every bit of it. There’s nothing redeeming in this, unless it ends with a new street sign being posted: “Watch out for swans.” I’m sorry, DK. (And everyone.) 💙

  12. It was the male who was killed, by an animal. She was nearby so she s not looking for her lost mate.

    1. Thank you for sharing. I understand the eggs were taken to a rescue center in Westport. Then all this makes sense and the nest is no longer safe and female cannot incubate and forage on her own. Appreciate you providing the insight. I’ve provided an update to the blog including my thanks to you Danusia

      Danusia, just received this update from another reader: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYxYArckeQC/

  13. You are seeing the female. He was
    Killed by another animal and the female was close by and knows what happened to him

  14. My heart, each breath of mine and my blood pressure is quickening, in reaction to such a sad reality. Wish it wasn’t true…So Thankful that your writing and your photography introducing ,us to the Swans and their babies, has enriched those of us who read your blog…
    the info about another animal attacked the Swan, brought to mind how my daughter and her beau recused a cat. He is keeping the cat that was living under his porch and starving…he took it to the vet, she is a 10 year old darling with a host of medical issues including a recent attack from a wild animal…Our daughter was scratched through he tee shirt by the cat getting the darling into the cat carrier to go to the vet.
    She told the vet and that’s when the vet mentioned the wild animal attack…she said you have to go to the ER when your finished here…to start the rabies vaccine series…My daughter just finished the Rabies shots series…a few days ago…thank God for a treatment…

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