When we moved from Monterey to Buzzards Bay, we were within walking distance of a lighthouse that was obsolete but made into a public park called Ned’s Point.
We were thrilled in the morning when Mute Swans went winging past our windows at dawn, to land and glide gracefully in the waters around the historic seaside landmark. Now with spring along the coastline with open waters, they will once again appear around the park as a decorative symbol to give it a mystical aura of an old-world species from across the pond.
They were brought to this country at the beginning of the 19th century to authentically decorate our parks, estates and wildlife reservations with royal-courtyard images, formerly owned by the queen of England, on display floating on the moats around Windsor Castle. Yet they are not entirely mute but have a variety of quieter vocal expressions, much quieter than their native cousins, the bugling Trumpeter Swan.
By the turn of the next century, they were doubling their population every 10 years, and subsequently with bad environmental habits, close to being labeled as an invasive species.
They would tip up along the shore to reach down three feet under the water to wipe out underwater plants essential to lesser waterfowl. In addition, they can become very ornery and territorial around their nests and young. After a hissing warning alarm, called a basking, they would attack dogs or children with an injuring wing beat.
Subsequently, in the year 2003, U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposed to reduce their numbers accordingly. However, animal rights countered that Mute Swan fossils here go back thousands of years and are proven to be indigenous and could not be reduced as invasive. They are now protected under both state and federal laws.
They also have some very admiral qualities of exemplary well-known behavior. According to Norse mythology, they originally established their purity white reputation by drinking from the mythically pristine waters of the historical well of Urd. This cleansed their plumage and also the image of their character. They are said to mate for life, unless one of the pair dies or is somehow lost. Both male Cob and female Pen are also known to faithfully look after the young Cygnets until they are ready to choose mates themselves.
Mute Swans make frequent appearances in Literature, such as “The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian Andersen. Shakespeare wrote more about love, jealousy, and revenge in swan behavior than any other poet. Tennyson wrote a ballet of a dying swan singing its own death song. And even today, Mute Swans are known to vocally mourn for themselves or others in death.
Carolyn Longworth, the director of the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, is an avid and accurate bird watcher and reports, “A dead Cygnet was seen floating on a nearby pond, and two adults and others came over to form a circle around the dead bird. Then they all started making a mourning conversation and all pointed their heads up into the heavens.”
At our new location, when the chilled stillness of a pale blue sky of a spring dawn is broken by the shrill clarion of a skein of Snow Geese winging high overhead towards the Arctic Circle, it is an annual sun sign that a renewed season is just over the horizon.
Soon Mute Swans that have nested in the marshes around Eel Pond across the bay will bring their young on their backs or in tow to show them off to Ned Point park visitors. And the SouthCoast harbors will unfurl white sails on Buzzards Bay and launch their recreational flagships of spring.
By George B. Emmons