Boy wasn't immediately visible this morning, so I went along past Nature House where he often waits. Saw a swan near the wetlands area and was surprised that he would have gone that close to Precious' domain. I called, "Where's my beautiful Boy?" and the swan started pedaling over, then midway across, turned it into a mad dash, using his wings to skim atop the water. Hah! I should have KNOWN who it was without a moment's doubt. Up came Precious, front and centre, snorting and fluffing himself up to jumbo economy-size. He's REALLY showing off now, since he won the battle with Papa Swan and is heavily "into" wing-work! One thing's certain: his wings are not very sore from the fight if he can use them this way . Little Tristan and Isolde had been swimming in this area but moved outta there double-time as The Great One approached . Ya don't mess with Precious these days! I didn't have any food but doled out generous praise, so he wasn't obliged to express his annoyance by beating up on me

Meantime.... Boy was curled up sound asleep near the beach-area, with little Brother. You could almost hear them snoring. He got up to greet me and oh my - he IS a big swan, even more so when he fluffs his wings up, but there's no aggression. He's just an old sweetie, and his snorts are always friendly.

If you're around these swans often enough, you discover the amazing variety of sounds and snorts they use to express themselves and wonder who first designated them "Mute?" Their "good to see ya!" snort is quite different from the one that says "I am the greatest" or one accompanied by tail-twitching that says, "I'm not amused!" And of course, that special springtime snort when a male sees his potential mate swimming nearby "Hellooooooo there!!!" Mother swan has her own special "bleat" of greeting, and a unique call for her cygnets that starts off gently, but if results aren't immediate, it can quickly escalate to the Swan-Mom equivalent of "MOVE IT, Kid!" and little black feet hurry in her direction.