Never mind! She/he finally moved on. She was there yesterday, and I went to check on her today, but she was gone. The ice closed in even more to about 20 feet across of free water, and I guess that was just too close for her. Either that, or someone else got her. I don't know what took her so long. All the other swans disappeared at least a month ago, and most of the ducks and geese have moved from that pond over to the pond that I live on because it still has about two football fields worth of water. I guess she just didn't want to move. It warmed up a lot today, to around 40F, so I guess it was a good day to travel.

One more thing, if you don't mind. I feed a few geese and ducks around the area who have issues such as a deformed leg that causes a significant limp, a slightly broken bill, missing tail feathers, etc. They all know me and come when I show up. I feed them a mixture of barley, lentils, and steel cut oats. I think that's a good mix from what I've seen. Is it? I know that you recommend cracked corn, but I was wondering if ducks, geese, and swans are susceptible to metabolic bone disease, like several other birds and mammals are. Corn is very high in phosphorous, which blocks calcium absorption, so I was always curious when I see it recommended for waterfowl. Maybe it's like with squirrels in that feeding wilds some corn is fine because they balance their diet in other ways. Corn and the like are only a real problem for captive squirrels because getting the diet properly balanced is so hard.

Thanks.