Ride A White Swan

Swan Lake, photo by Vikingchild

I think if I was to be a bird, I'd want to be a water bird. Being able to fly and swim (and walk, kinda) seems like a fair deal. So perhaps I'd want to be a swan...

We watched these swans on Saturday as we were having a meal at the Riverhouse restaurant in Stirling (highly recommended, by the way). There is a small pond outside, and as we went in a male swan was sitting at the side of the water, quite content. After a while he got on into the water, and went out of sight. He then appeared, gliding forward, the wife and six kids behind him, all in a row. All those sitting by the window stopped to watch!

They saw off a few ducks, but then a larger threat came in the shape of an Alsation (German Shepherd) dog on the land. The dog didn't mean any harm, but it was there. The male swan slowly approached the dog, who was a bit dim and didn't seem to be aware of the threat the swan posed until the white bird started to make itself large. At this point the dog did a good bit of slinking off, trying to save face.

I like the idea of swans. They more or less mate for live, grieve for their mate should one die, bring up the young together and of course they look so graceful. Except when they do that weird thing of sticking up a leg and putting it under their wing!! The Swan Sanctuary in the UK has an FAQ full of interesting swan info.. And yes, the Queen owns all the mute swans here!