Ever since I was a little nipper, I have been fascinated by swans.
Was I captivated by their majestic beauty in the images found in my fairy tale books?
Or was it because when we still lived in Toronto, my parents often bundled me up, plunked me into my stroller …
… and off we went to visit Toronto’s High Park. I thought the swans were the prettiest of the waterfowl at High Park – sure there were geese and ducks along the shorelines too, but in my mind – swans ruled!
After all, what’s not to like about that graceful, curved neck, black “mask” around the snowy-white face and bright-orange bill? Many a prize-winning photographer has captured images of two swans, their bills touching and necks arched in the shape of a heart. This hobby photographer has not captured such a beautiful photo … yet.
That early fascination with swans (and geese and ducks too) never waned and here I am, almost seven decades later, still appreciating and photographing these beauties.
Part of my Labor Day weekend 2025 was spent going through my old albums to digitize some photos and scrapbook items not included in my four-day scanning marathon over Thanksgiving weekend 2017.
As I flipped through, paused and reflected on the items on those pages, I gleaned many images I had deemed necessary for future “Stir the Memory Pot” posts and happily, I also located my Mute Swan photos taken many years ago.
Mute Swans at Hidden Lake Gardens circa June 1983.
In 1983, my grandmother spent most of the Summer at our house. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you already know that Nanny loved her flowers, whether she grew them, or just admired them, so my parents thought she might enjoy a Sunday drive and stop at Hidden Lake Gardens, a botanical garden and arboretum in Michigan’s Irish Hills.
The day before we visited that venue, I had returned from a three-week vacation in four Scandinavian countries and Russia. I had not used up the last roll of film, so I toted my 35mm camera along to finish off the roll.
Of course, there were the usual poses by family members in and around Hidden Lake Gardens and a Mute Swan family captured my attention that day.
Flash forward 42 years ….
I have seen plenty of Mute Swan pairs, some with their cygnets in tow, since that Summer day back in ’83 and my joy was renewed as I followed a swan family and watched the cygnets growing in leaps and bounds throughout the Summer/early Fall of 2025.
In retrospect, had I ventured to Lake Erie Metropark more times than I did this past Summer, I may have been able to document the cygnets’ growth spurts in less-dramatic fashion, but, over the course of five visits, they went from tiny fluffballs struggling to keep up with their parents, to sleek-looking cygnets mimicking their parents’ graceful demeanor.
In September and October, they had positioned themselves in the same location where I’d found them previously, but unfortunately, even though the cygnets were almost full grown, the reeds had grown so high and thick, all I could glimpse was white images interspersed with green.
While standing at the edge of the marsh, hoping the family would move on and nibble some reeds elsewhere, a woman came over near me and we chatted about this Mute Swan family. It turned out that Vicky was similarly monitoring the family, only on an everyday basis, as she lives near the park and walks here daily. Just as I observed, they always stayed in that area of the marsh.
Together we marveled at the beauty and grace of the young cygnets that mimicked their parents in how they dipped their heads to sip water, nibbled on reeds and even turned upside down to explore and find more reeds beneath the surface of the water.
After Vicky left, I stayed a short time for a photo op, but, whether the Mute Swan family was merely camera shy or content to remain in the shelter of this little island and tall reeds, they did not budge, so I have no pictures from the last two sightings, but I have some to share from previous meanders.
My first cygnets sighting was on June 1st.
I first saw the family when the cygnets were still fluffy young’uns wedged in between their parents.
My second cygnets sighting was on July 21st.
Due to the heat, humidity, rain/storms in July, not to mention occasional wildfire smoke, I did not visit Lake Erie Metropark from June 1st until July 21st, but, when I returned, I headed straight for the North Shore Fishing Bridge to look for the Sandhill Crane pair (MIA since Spring and Vicky concurred with that observation).
On a tiny “island” of marsh nesting materials and nestled in the tall reeds, clear across the marsh, I saw the swan family, clustered around Mama, with Papa “patrolling” nearby.
Even from afar, it is easy to distinguish between the male and female Mute Swan by the predominant black knob at the base of the bill; it is not as predominant in the female. Notice Mama and Papa switched places for this photo!
I liked this photo the best of the bunch that day.
My third cygnets sighting was on August 28th.
My, how those babies had grown!
Lucky for me, the cygnets strayed from Mama and Papa’s watchful eyes, so I got this shot.
I finally got a clear shot of the nest as some of the reeds were gone. The cygnets were nearly full-size and it looks like Mama was enjoying a little “me time”. 🙂
I returned to Lake Erie Metropark again on September 8th, but as stated previously, no cygnet pics were taken.
On my last visit, October 3rd, it was still shorts and shirt-sleeves weather. There was NO swan song as to our Summer-like temps! This time I only saw one swan in the usual hangout and I think it was Mama basking in the sun and enjoying some more “me time” but there were some other sights to see and photograph – you will see them in next week’s post.
Will I see the family this Fall or Winter? I hope so, because, unlike the Trumpeter Swans and Tundra Swans that only spend a portion of the year here in Michigan, the Mute Swans stay year-around.
“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I am joining Terri’s Monthly Color Challenge for October: Black and/ or black and white.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
What beautiful photography of the Mute Swans, Linda. I also enjoyed seeing your old photos. You look excited in your stroller!
How many times do they hatch eggs in the summer? It must be fun to see the growth each month. I also love the reflection of the swans graceful neck, well done! I guess you’ll have to wait for the graceful heart of two together. Glad to know the swans stick around all year.
Sorry for the “what” comment. I was trying to log in, then added my email and name. And that’s what happened. 😆 Which leads me to believe you might need to change your theme. Sigh… Have a great Monday!
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Thank you Terri. I think swans are so graceful and beautiful as they glide through the water. I couldn’t resist using the picture of the upside-down swan alongside the graceful swan for my featured image – no grace there. 🙂
I figured those old photos of me would work perfectly for the black-and-white theme, since my subjects only were wearing a black “mask”. The picture where I was smiling in the stroller made me smile too. Happy to be rolling along enroute to a park – not much has changed there! I knew I had taken those photos of the swans back in 1983, but they were in a scrapbook, not photo albums, so I probably missed them during my photo-scanning marathon back in 2017. How fun to see them so close-up then too.
Mute swans only have one clutch a year so it was easy to track their growth. I thought it was the same family as they were only in that one location, so I’m glad Vicky told me she was monitoring them on a daily basis and could verify that. I have seen swans in the Winter walking on the ice floes down at the Detroit River, so they are pretty hardy.
No problem with the first comment – I just removed it. In scrolling down my comments to start responding, another blogger commented that he couldn’t “like” anyone’s posts, so maybe it is a WP site-wide glitch (hopefully).
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Lovely Swan photos Linda 😀 It is wonderful to have a place where you are guaranteed to see Swans. I like the older photos as well
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Thank you Brian! I really like swans and was fascinated with the family back in 1983 as I’d not seen cygnets before. I was admiring a pair of mute swans at Council Point Park one Winter day and I was nowhere near them, when suddenly the male walked up the Creek bank and stomped over toward me. He was snorting as he came toward me – I thought he had water in his nose, but later learned it means they’re agitated. I was worried as there were icy ruts in the snow and on the pathway, so I was going to have to walk backward as I didn’t want to turn around (lest he “goose me”). I decided to climb onto a park bench as I knew I was safe unless he flapped his wings – they’re huge. I remembered I had peanuts – I had been feeding the squirrels. I threw all the peanuts toward him, he stopped to eat them and I turned around and walked very fast and got out of there safely.
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Good old treats to save the day
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Yes, treats always save the day, for a photo op, or to thwart a swan attack. 🙂
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Swans are so beautiful and majestic! I enjoyed all of your photos of these lovely creatures, especially the one at the top. 😍 And you were such an adorable baby, Linda. What a delightful smile. 😃Your mom looked lovely in her winter coat. HIgh Park in Toronto is where we took many of our wedding photos.
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Thank you Debbie! I think swans are beautiful and majestic too. The photo at the top was such a contrast … a graceful swan with its reflection and the other swan diving, bum up in the air. 🙂 I wish they would have been closer instead of across the marsh. There were two places I could view them and both were not a completely clear view. I’m glad you liked my baby photos too. We lived in an apartment on Rushholme Drive and moved to Oakville in 1959. My father took the streetcar to work, but had a car and parked it in a garage he rented but it was not nearby, so they just walked and I got a lot of stroller action. My mom bought that coat before she was married – the first year she worked. It was goat fur and growing up I remember she still had it – it was gray. I have not been to High Park in many years. We went back when I was older, after moving to Oakville, before we moved to the States, so probably around 60 years ago. That would be a nice place for wedding photos. Elizabeth Park is like that – I have seen many wedding parties posing on the big bridge with a professional photographer taking photos. Once, in early December, the bride had an ermine stole – it was very cold and none of the wedding party posed in coats. They took lots of photos as I watched.
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Great shots Linda!
When the adults feel things are wrong, they will begin to bob their heads. The cygnets will begin to do it as well to signify that they understand and that danger is close by.
Maybe one day you’ll get your 2 swan heart shot!
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Thanks Wayne! I’m glad you liked the shots. I especially liked the first pic and the pic with the adult and near-grown cygnet in the reeds. Back in 1983, I was right up close to them, but this time unfortunately they hung out in a corner of the marsh that was not great for viewing at either the bridge or the overlook. The cygnets stayed close together, following in a line which I thought was interesting, but like you said they are really in tune with the adult. I think I should put “swan heart shot” on my annual Birdie Bucket List! What a find that would be!
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Your swans are beautiful.
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Thank you Anne – I’m glad you liked them!
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I like your title with the up side down swan! It made me laugh, Linda! Great to laugh this Monday morning to starting out the new week!!
I enjoyed seeing the old photos of the dated cars and troller. How things change with time. I wonder what you and your mom were thinking? “What the heck is he doing now?”, perhaps. I think you may have inherited your love of photography from your father and story telling from your mother.
Yes, swans exhibit beauty and grace. My favorite photo here is the six swans a swimming…
As best as I can remember at the moment, I have only seen photographs of swans. But I cannot be certain of that as fact. Enjoyed seeing these swans today.
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I think swans are the epitome of grace TD but they can be mean too. I had one chase after me when I was taking photos of him and his mate a few years ago at Council Point Park. I was nowhere close, but it stomped out of the water and came after me – the snow had frozen into ruts and the perimeter path was icy and a bit dicey, so I threw it some peanuts I had in my bag and it stopped to eat them, or I might not be here to tell the story! 🙂 I did like the swans in a row – follow the leader!
It was the “wayback machine” in this post, first, my baby photos, Winter of 1956-1957, then the swans at Hidden Gardens in 1983. I’m lucky to have so many pictures from the past – my mom and dad both had a camera, his a 35mm and hers a Baby Brownie box camera which she later passed on to me. I’m glad for my mom’s storytelling as well – who knew the pictures and stories would become part of a blog so many years later?
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I loved the swan photos, both old and new. But now I’m wondering how mute swans can perform a swan song? Maybe with a down beat? 🙂
For some reason, my WP won’t let me “like” posts or comments.
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Thank you JP! I was pretty proud of myself back in 1983 for getting the swan family on film – my first swan(s) capture. You raise a good point there – it’s pretty difficult to perform a swan song if you must remain silent. The Mute Swans do make noise calling to one another, but they are not as raucous as Canada Geese who honk very loudly. The noise I notice and makes me look upward is the hum of their wings as they fly overhead. Even having heard that noise and I know swans (any species) are nearby, I’ve never gotten any pictures of them in flight. WP has been glitchy with me as well. I had that problem awhile back and couldn’t “like” anything – sigh.
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They are so beautiful!
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Yes, they are beautiful and graceful birds.
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Swans are beautiful, though I always give them a wide berth. One year out at kensington, when I used to run around the lake every Saturday, a swan had built her nest right next to the bike/running path. Right next to it. Like, it touched the trail. Everybody veered off the trail and up a hill to the road to get around it that spring and early summer. She was taking no prisoners. She wasn’t there the next spring. Maybe she found a quieter place to have her young.
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I give them wide berth too Dawn. They are extra ornery when sitting on a nest or with their cygnets. I was photographing a pair of Mute Swans in the Winter at Council Point Park a few years ago. I was nowhere near them – they were in the water across the Creek. As I was standing watching them, the male paddled over, snorting loudly, then came up the Creek bank, stomping over toward me. The snow was all icy ruts and I panicked thinking I can’t walk backward blindly in the icy snow and I was not going to turn around. I planned to climb onto a park bench to escape it, hoping it didn’t take me out with its wings, then I decided to throw all the peanuts toward it that I had left from feeding the squirrels. It stopped to munch them and I took off very quickly. It was an anxious moment! (But of course in the midst of it, when it stopped to eat peanuts, I got a few shots.)
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What lovely pictures Linda! I especially like the ones from Aug 28 with the six in a row and the Mama and Papa. I haven’t seen any swans in the river this summer, but I can’t say I’ve looked much either. Maybe they’ve moved downriver. PS. The childhood pictures are cute! Your mother had a gorgeous fur coat!
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Thank you Joni! I’m glad you liked the swan pictures and my childhood pictures too. Unfortunately, since the swan family liked that little “island” where she nested and it had reeds all around, the two spots where I would normally go to take pictures wasn’t a perfect view of them all the time. It was nice seeing the swan family grow up and how much they grew in the six-week period I never went there. I decided to throw those childhood pics in the post as we used to go to High Park with its waterfowl so often. We went back once when I was older, after we moved to Oakville. When we lived in Toronto, it was in an apartment. My father had a car but didn’t need to take it to work as he took public transportation, so the car was stored in a garage and not near where they lived, so they walked more or took public transportation and they lived near my grandparents’ house. My mom said she bought the coat the first year she worked after graduating from Shaw’s Business School. I remember she had it for years – it was gray, long-haired and was made of goat fur. She said it was very warm.
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Fun to read of your past and present connection with swans. How fun to follow them from babes to fully grown. They are such beautiful birds.
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I’m glad you liked the post Rebecca – I thought it would be fun to include those pictures taken back in 1983 of the swan family and tell about my ongoing fascination with these beautiful birds.
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Amazing that you started taking pictures of swans over 40 years ago! You have had decades to perfect your technique, and it shows.
I love the photos of the “teenage” cygnets. So cool!
(Sorry I have been silent for a while. Bill and I have been traveling.)
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Thank you Laurie! It was fun digging out those old photos and including them in this post. They were the first swan family I “met” all those years ago. I wish I’d gone to Lake Erie Metropark more as I may have had an opportunity to get more close-ups, but the family hung out together, by the original nest which was like an island and surrounded by reeds. At least I could view them from afar. I did think you were traveling, either on a vacation or visiting your grandchildren.
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We did a little of both – 2 weeks in Greece, then 2 weeks with our twin granddaughters in Oregon.
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That sounds like a wonderful time spent away Laurie. My favorite trip ever was a two-week vacation in Greece, a one-week land tour and a one-week cruise to various Greek islands, Egypt and Turkey. At least you hopefully beat the heat as I know some attractions/tours (I think the Acropolis) were shut down during a heat wave this Summer after a tourist fainted. I know you enjoyed the twins too, your first visit back since you and Bill helped out after they were born.
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I loved those family photos at the beginning! How cool your parents were taking you to see swans back then. Certainly I’ve seen swans on occasion, but never to watch them breed or rear their cygnets. Very cool that you are able to document that where you live, Linda.
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Thank you Eilene! I decided those vintage photos of me in this post would be fun as my parents used to tell me how often we went to High Park, pushing me in the stroller. When I was toddling around, I used to feed the waterfowl – yes, bread. In those days people didn’t know that bread was bad for waterfowl and gave them angel wing or it just wasn’t nutritious for them. I remembered those 1983 photos which I didn’t digitize back in 2017 as they were not in vacation albums or family albums. So I digitized some scrapbook albums as I went looking for them. I do feel fortunate to live in an area that is so close to the water to be able to see these graceful swans and their families and other wildlife. I hope I see the family this Winter. The water level is so low in the marshes. I was there on October 3rd and saw no waterfowl or shore birds in the water, just Egrets in the trees. Very sad – a result of our moderate drought which lingers. I didn’t even park the car and went on to another park instead.
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You sure do have a lot of swans in your area. Just traveling to the west of you, I have seen more swans than in my entire life. 🙂
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Yes, we are lucky to have a lot of swans Sandra. Whenever I go to Dingell Park on the Detroit River in the Wintertime, I often see groups of them, sometimes in the water, other times on ice floes. They are beautiful creatures. Are you seeing Trumpeter Swans in the western part of the state too? I have seen Trumpeter Swans a couple of times, only overhead though. I hear their wings making the humming sound and look up – Mute Swans make that noise as well.
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It makes you think Linda – I expect those Mute Swans today are relatives of the ones you saw 40years ago. Some swans can live for 20years in the wild although 7 to 10 years is the average.
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I never thought of that Andy – yes, that is very true. Think about the swans in your country that are protected by the Crown. I was amazed to learn that info as here Mute Swans are considered an invasive species. Your swans live a good life and could live to be a ripe old age. I remember a UK blogger told me once that you can buy swan food to give to them.
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I love that last photo of the young swan and its mother (?) taken on July 21st, too. You did a lovely job of chronicling the swan family’s growth over the summer, it was fun to follow along. It’s amazing how fast they grow. I also enjoyed seeing the pictures of your mom pushing you in the stroller, all bundled up for the cold Canadian winter. One summer back in Connecticut in the 80s we saw a mother swan carrying a couple of her little ones on her back as she glided through the water with the other ones following her. Sure wish I had a camera that day – I never saw a swan doing that again. It’s no wonder you love swans – their grace and beauty is definitely captivating!
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I think swans are so graceful and majestic looking Barbara, even when they tip upside down to feed. I could not resist showing the picture of those two swans, side by side, one regal and one upside down – such a contrast. I really like that picture of the cygnet looking up at its mother too. I believe it was the mother as she was still sitting on the nest. After those cygnets hatched, they gathered there and she would go back on the nest to sit by herself. It was huge from what I could see between the reeds, almost like a little island. It is amazing how big they got in my six-week absence. I know their plumage doesn’t turn white for a while, nor are their black mask and orange bill prominent as youngsters. I have never seen a swan with her cygnets on her back or with them tucked in her feathers. You were lucky to see this. I hope to see that one day too and I can imagine how badly you felt not being able to capture that moment with the camera. I’m glad you liked the vintage photos of me too. In Toronto, it’s very walkable and we lived near High Park so we went for a Sunday stroll until moving to the suburbs in 1959 when I was three.
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They are so beautiful. I haven’t seen any swans around here.
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Yes, they are Ruth – I always like seeing swans and I’ve not seen many this year – this was the only family I saw at Lake Erie Metropark this year.
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I hope soon you will take that shot of the swans making a heart shape!
The pictures of the growing swans swimming in one line is pretty! It’s rare to see swans where I live.
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I hope I see that graceful heart shape swans make sometime too Esther. I’ll add that to my Birdie Bucket List for 2026. I was impressed at how they never strayed far from their siblings, usually always in a neat row. I’m sorry you don’t get to see swans. They are beautiful creatures, but, very mean if you get too close to them.
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I love High Park, we try to go there every once in a while when we go visit our son in Toronto.
The weather here has been spectacular, we need rain though. A lot of people on wells have no water. We just returned from 5 weeks in Algonquin Park and it rained only one day while we were there!
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I haven’t been to High Park in ages, but I remember it being beautiful back in the day. Our late September and all of October weather has been spectacular too. I have gotten out to walk a lot to make up for the lean months in the Winter and all Summer days that I missed walking due to the excessive heat and humidity. We are having a stormy day tomorrow and earlier this evening, parts of Michigan had severe weather and tornado warnings. I hope it dies down before I go to bed and doesn’t get to here. The weather alarm has not sounded yet. Boy, did you two luck out with the weather! Were the trees vibrant at all? Ours are just starting to get vibrant now. I hope you got a lot of photos to share with us!
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The colours in Algonquin were really early this year and all gone now but my area (a 2 1/2 hours drive difference) still has some green and also lots of colour. A very strange year for the colours maybe due to the very dry summer we hadl.
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I hate that the drought-like conditions did the muted colors again this year. I went to two parks today and was surprised there was more color that I expected, when just two or three days ago, everything was green and leaves had just a few red and yellow tinges. It must have been that stormy day we had yesterday!
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I had no idea mute swans stayed all winter. I’m sure you have posted pictures but it didn’t click in the winter. I was surprised at how slow the swans grew in the time you didn’t go. I loved your baby pictures and story about you grandma too.
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Diane, I do see Mute Swans in the Winter and when I went to Dingell Park at the Detroit River more often in the Winter (last Winter I didn’t get there until mid-March as it was icy in the streets, but there were still ice floes there). I would see them on the ice floes which was kind of cool (no pun intended). I’ve seen them in the water too, but I wonder where they go if there are no open waters? At Dingell Park, the steel plant’s steam doesn’t allow solid ice to form, so that’s why the swans and ducks hang out there and why the bald eagles come there to fish. It’s the same at the Fermi II plant in Monroe. The goslings seem to grow in leaps and bounds compared to the cygnets. I was there this past Sunday and looked for them to do follow-up photos, but I didn’t see them. Thank you – I thought it would be fun to throw in the old pictures in this post, first the vintage pictures of me and also the swans taken with the 35mm lens four decades ago. I used to like when my grandmother came over to visit for the Summer. She liked the change of pace too.
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