Some folks have no luck with floating islands, others swear by them. We have had very little success. The first problem is how to anchor the island in the lake if you have a very deep lake. The second problem is getting the swans acclimated to using them. Sometimes swans will sit on them, nest on them and other swans will have nothing to do with them. The third problem is wind, hurricane or drought conditions which will substantially alter the ability to safely anchor the island which inevitably means the possibility of the island tipping over or launching across the lake.

The probable reason that your swans are wandering is that literally the grass is greener and more plentiful in an area away from your pond. Add aquatic vegetation such as lemon grass or texas bluebell (mexican petunias) or use regular petunias and rye grass on the perimeter of the pond (do not use any plants with insecticides, fungicides or pesticides). Try to stay away from vegetation such as pickeral weed, hyacinths or water lilies. These types of vegetation can bring in water snakes and if you are from the south, this could mean anything from a banded water snake (non-venomous) to a cottonmouth water mocassin (extremely venomous to you and the birds).

Our suggestion would be to build a pen to house the nesting swans (fencing that cannot be dug under or climbed over). You will need chicken wire placed under and around the pen to prevent predators from digging under the fence. You will need some type of fencing material at the top of the pen facing outward to prevent predators from climbing into the nest. There is a photo of the pen we use on this website (www.stanley-park-swans.com). The Regal Swan