Tycho, back home in Ashbridge's Bay after a long absence, takes a drink. © BCP 2010
Penny and Tycho, our beloved swan pair, returned to their home at Ashbridge’s Bay over the weekend. They had been gone for weeks, put off, no doubt, by the lack of access to their preferred food source, subaquatic vegetation. With the Coatsworth Cut completely frozen over, and the inner bay around the yacht club the same, their home was not very hospitable. But with a few days of brilliant sunshine, a lot of the ice has broken up, making it easier for the swans to get around and feed.
Not sure where “our beauties” disappeared to for the past few weeks. One observer I met along the path at Ashbridge’s last week told me that she had seen some swans over by Cherry Beach. So I chugged over to check it out. But I’m quite sure the foursome over there did not include our pair. It’s quite likely, I think, that Penny and Tycho might have gone over to the bluffs, or to the Leslie St. spit, but no way of knowing for sure.
Wherever they went, they’re back now, and Mother Nature willing, the bay won’t completely freeze over again, and they’ll stay. P and T are very happy around the usual crowd at Ashbridge’s and have incorporated begging at the boat launch into their daily routines.
While swans shouldn’t eat people food — it’s very bad for their health — it seems impossible to stop well-meaning folks from enticing them to shore with their loaves of stale bread and past-their-prime hot dog buns. They’re so beautiful everyone wants to see them up close. Feeding them — along with the geese, ducks and gulls in the parking lot — is the easiest way to do that.
Next visit I’ll try to get a good shot of our swans together. But for now, here’s Penny checking me out.
© BCP 2010
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