Hi (and thank you for having this wonderful and informative site!)--
We have a large lake on our property with a small island in the center. We had a pair of mute swans for about 10 years. They nested every year and had cygnets most years. This year something strange happened. They had 5 cygnets. One by one the cygnets disappeared (we live in northwest nj and there are plenty of coyotes, fox, snapping turtles, etc.). In addition, the adults were acting very uncharacteristically. The male seemed uninterested in protecting the babies (prior to this, he was very protective and territorial), the adults would often leave the pond and sometimes were even found in the street (with the one remaining cygnet) which is quite a ways from the pond. We returned from a vacation to find them gone. We do not know what became of them. As a side note, we had recently gotten chickens, which were contained. They were kept a ways from the pond, however there was a crowing rooster. A couple of times I would see the male up in that direction. Wondering if maybe the male was bothered by this? I think I need a swan psychoanalist !!

It is now about 4 month's since then and there is a swan on the pond again. We are not sure if it is one of the originals although we don't think it is the male since this one is territorial but acts much differently than the other. I guess it could also be the female.

Anyway, my questions are two-fold. First, any ideas about the behavior of the original pair? Second, if a swan comes to a new environment (or even returns to an old one), does another of the opposite sex often follow (if it's one of the originals would a new mate follow)? We would love to have either the original or another nesting pair and wanted to know if there was any chance that this might happen.
Sorry for such a long note and I realize there is no exact science to this, but thought w/your expertise, you might have some insights.
Thank you so much!!
shari