Hi- it's been awhile since I've been in contact. I wrote you about our pair of of mute swans that had 5 cygnets that hatched but we didn't know enough to have their wings taken care of a a young enough age, but we decided to try to keep them with us anyway know that we might lose some. Well, we did have 2 that flew away and one that was hit by a car recently, so very sad... but we have one beautiful young bird that has moved quite happily on his/her own or with some help from mom and dad over to the next lake in our neighborhood.

I have your book and have been trying to figure out exactly what kind of nest/pen we should build it, but the only thing I really find is the "nesting" platform. Is that just for a "nesting" pair? What the parents have had for a very long time, before I was president of the HOA is and area on the shoreline that partially enclosed (on the lakeside) with lattice. The open side faces the a homeowners house. Those homeowner are the ones that feed them and keep an eye on them. This is where they sleep and lay their eggs and everything. Should we try to do something similar of the young bird or go with one of the feeds that you recommend in your book as this bird and others that may come along will have other cave givers and the original ones are in their 90's! We want a happy healthy swan and have 4 lakes that can sustain them.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Carol