Journal: August 22nd. Pouring Rain. Swan Attrition.

A seriously rainy Sunday.   Late morning, it looked like the rain was letting up.   Hoping to take a walk, I headed out.  Distracted by a bit of petunia pruning, it soon became apparent that my weather estimates were all wrong.  The rain resumed, but remembering the wonders of umbrellas, I headed out in high galoshes with black umbrella unfurled.

Oh--the lives of swans are more perilous than imagined.  When I arrived here, there were two adult swans, and four tiny cygnets.  I thought there were four, but can't swear to it, and a few days later, there were only three.  The swan family did fine for many weeks, the babies growing into adolescent swans (is there such a thing?  almost full grown, but cygnet gray, not white like their parents).  One day, I noticed their numbers had been reduced again.  Now just two cygnets and two parent.

A few weeks later, Logan reported that one of the parent swans was floating dead on the water.  The next morning, it was gone.  Most likely the victim of a snapping turtle, though I don't recall a parent swan ever being killed, Dave, the engineer says a turtle could bite its leg and it would slowly bleed to death.

last two swans in rain

 
We were down to one parent (mother or father, I cannot say) and two cygnets making their sad circles about the lake. Of course, the experts say the swans don't really belong here.  They're not natives and drive off other bird-life.  Over the years, I've sometimes seen a vicious swan rage, but all those calm circles are quite successful at erasing those memories.
Today, another cygnet is missing. Walking around the lake in the rain, I saw only one parent, and one cygnet.   Native or not.  Aggression notwithstanding, it's not easy being a swan in this lake nowadays. 

Apples from our tree

The deer and the bears, on the other hand, are thriving.  Saw a deer eating apples beneath the old apple tree.  Hoping to try some before the bears get them,  I picked a few myself.  Most are quite misshapen and worms have been happily working their way through them, but they were surprisingly  crisp, tart and delicious.  Who would have guessed?

Apples made a fine conclusion to the meal I made from yesterday's purchases.  Two of the chicken wings, moist and meaty, infused with Chinese five spices, and gorgeously glazed and potato salad with purslane, radishes, scallions, and a dash of mint--with a vinaigrette using garlic from my local organic garlic grower.