Swans

Two Esplanade swans euthanized after falling ill with what appears to be avian flu

By adamg - 6/29/22 - 10:35 am

WCVB reports.

Heading off into the sunset

By adamg - 2/21/22 - 9:05 pm

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Esperanza watched captured one of two swans heading off from East Boston into Chelsea Creek at sunset today.

Before the swan glided off, she reports, it and its partner shooed away some mallards for sole possession of the less than bucolic creek shoreline: Read more.

Swan on ice

By adamg - 1/26/22 - 1:17 pm

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One of the five swans at Jamaica Pond took a moment to ponder life shortly before sundown yesterday.

A roving UHub photographer snapped this family portrait of Atticus the Swan - whose partner died not long after their babies were hatched - and his not-so-little cygnets out for a paddle at the Esplanade this morning.

Female Esplanade swan dies, leaving father to care for cygnets

By adamg - 6/1/21 - 3:23 pm

The Esplanade Association reports she died last night, and that a Boston animal-control officer was able to remove her body "while the father swan sat at the nest with their cygnets tucked under his wings."

Paddy G reports the two were forced to raise their young amidst man-made filth along the riverbank.

Mother's Day at Millennium Park

By adamg - 5/9/21 - 6:27 pm

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Mary Ellen found herself way down upon the Swan-y River today, at Millennium Park in West Roxbury.

Three graces in the mist

By adamg - 3/22/21 - 7:23 pm

Three swans in the Charles River at Millennium Park

Mary Ellen spotted a trio of swans seeming to have a neck contest in the mist along the Charles River at Millennium Park in West Roxbury this morning.

Swan River

By adamg - 2/26/21 - 9:57 pm

Mark McDonald reports that an apparently lonely swan in Mill Pond - the part of the Mother Brook that River Street crosses in Hyde Park - seemed to be a bit happier today now that its partner has rejoined it after several weeks of absence.

When dominance displays get fluffy

By adamg - 1/31/21 - 8:24 pm

Mary Ellen watched a couple of swans try to show each other who was King of Jamaica Pond today.

Swan lake

By adamg - 11/29/20 - 8:03 pm

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Mary Ellen spotted a flotilla of swans today in Cow Island Pond, the lake-like part of the Charles River off Rivermoor Street in West Roxbury.

An American kestrel and some snoozy swans at Millennium Park

By adamg - 5/2/20 - 10:11 pm

On a walk around Millennium Park in West Roxbury today, Mary Ellen spotted both an American kestrel - the smallest of the falcons - and some cygnets settling in for a nap. Read more.

Birds take note of the current situation

By adamg - 3/25/20 - 2:42 pm

Kelly Lewis spotted a pair of swans doing some social distancing off the Expressway in Dorchester today.

Meanwhile, over in Cambridge yesterday, Barb spotted a pair of turkeys who know that they now rule the roost outdoors, at least on Bellevue Avenue: Read more.

T workers sick of sulky swan on the Orange Line

By adamg - 6/4/19 - 10:45 pm

Sangwiche captured a T worker trying to chase a swan off the Orange Line tracks at Assembly Row this morning (recall how the Orange Line was brought to a halt 10 or so days ago by a swan on the tracks): Read more.

Jamaica Pond used to have a few more swans than it does today

By adamg - 5/10/18 - 10:21 am

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy shows us a typical Jamaica Pond scene in 1910.

As Ben Evans notes:

Feeding small children to swans was outlawed in 1923.

Not everybody staying away from Morrissey Boulevard

By adamg - 3/3/18 - 4:54 pm

Kelly Lewis reports at least one swan found a flooded Morrissey Boulevard to its liking today.

Swans back at Jamaica Pond

By adamg - 2/25/18 - 12:05 pm

There are three swans at the pond these days - a couple and a third wheel. Yesterday afternoon, all converged on the small island at the northern end of the pond, but the couple was not in a sharing mood - one of them broke off and drove away the third swan, which decided the middle of the pond wasn't so bad after all.