It was too good to last. Foolishly returning home, happy over Tristan’s joyful re-introduction to the lagoon, I decided to go back a little later to see how things were going.

Genghis Swan and Papa Swan decided they didn’t like the look of this new, strange swan – who didn’t smell a bit like anyone they know….. and made a pact to chase him from the water.

I returned only to hear poor Tristan’s feet pattering along the pavement where he had run to escape the feathered furies in the water, and then found himself hemmed in by people as traffic moved in both directions along the walks. A bit of babysitting was definitely in order.

He finally reached a more peaceful spot on the nearby hill, where he spent the rest of the day, very much like his mate Isolde had done when she arrived at the lagoon in 2006, and Tristan had at first chased her from the water! In fact, April 29th in 2006 was the day the two swans finally bonded as mates, so it was their 2nd anniversary!

Tristan began to relax, had a serious preen from head to foot, then decided he could enjoy a siesta – this was proving to be a very strenuous first day back.

I knew he was feeling more like himself when, to my delight, he stood upright on his little feet, and stretched his wings back in a proud pose – what we used to call “Tristan’s Signature Wing-Ding.”

Genghis and Papa finally realized Tristan was out of reach in the safety of our surveillance, and swam off to the other side of the lagoon. An hour or so later, Tristan once again returned to the water, and all was quiet.

The next morning, he was swimming peacefully in the lagoon, part of the fleet once again, although not yet united with Isolde. Read the next posting for the newest chapter of their saga!