” He’s simply a fantastic, great dad to them. It’s very adorable. Over the past year, swans have actually become a frequent sight at the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. And one swan pair decided the park’s lagoon was the perfect place to raise a family.
” In early April, we first saw they had a nest along the pillars by the lagoon,” Emma Feeney, advertising and events coordinator for the Esplanade Organization, informed The Dodo. “Then shortly after, we saw that the women swan had started to lay eggs. A total of nine eggs had actually been laid by very early Might, and about 10 days ago the cygnets began hatching.”
Bird and wild animals lovers gathered around the nest to view as seven cygnets hatched and were cared for by their doting parents.
” They’ve sort of become celebs in Boston over the past few weeks,” Feeney said.
Swan couples, who usually mate for life, share parental duties during their babies’ first few weeks, taking turns feeding, protecting and keeping their cygnets warm. However, tragedy struck the Charles River last Monday, when the mother swan fell ill and passed away.
Sylvia J. Zarco got on the banks of the Charles River that night observing the swan family, when she realized something was wrong with the mom.
” She was relaxing, sheltering her cygnets like the great mom she’s been for the past week. But she could not lift and hold up her head. She stumbled when she stood, could not swim straight and whatever she did, she just moved herself backwards,” Zarco composed on Facebook. “Father wouldn’t leave her. When the cygnets went for a swim, you might see how torn he was in between staying with and encouraging his mate and protecting their young.”
” By the time Boston Pet Control (thanks Brad) might come to her help, she had already passed away,” Zarco added. “But Dad should have known that already for even though he sat across the lagoon where she lay, every time prior to when it looked like someone or something was endangering her, he would certainly charge throughout the water to fiercely secure her. But when Brad approached her, chose her up out of the water, wrapped her gently in a blanket, Dad did not move. He calmly sat at the nest with their cygnets safely tucked under his wings.”
The city of Boston’s vet analyzed the wild mother swan, and could not determine a cause of death.
” The swan’s death damaged many of the hearts of the community right here in Boston, where we see people visiting the swans’ nest on a daily basis– it’s become part of their daily routine,” Feeney said.
Without his mate, the male swan has jumped into his role as a single dad, doing whatever he can to raise his babies right.
” They appear to be succeeding,” Feeney said. “You can find them in the esplanade lagoon swimming with each other, with a few of the babies riding along on his back.”
” Geese will certainly swim by them and you can tell that the papa swan remains in full force, protecting the cygnets,” She added. “You can tell that he’s simply a great, fantastic father to them. It’s extremely lovable.”
Thanks to their caring father, the seven cygnets will certainly have an excellent chance at growing up strong and searching for mates of their very own someday. And, hopefully, in the years to find, they too will return to the Charles River to begin families of their very own.
But, for now, the swan dad is giving the people of Boston someone to favor: “They have actually been through so much, but they seem so strong,” Feeney said.
