Snow arrived in November and in March there was still a good 2 feet remaining. It was so cold that Niagara Falls stopped flowing, and the Great Lakes were frozen solid. We don't know where the trumpeter swans spent the winter but during the last week in March, they returned and were seen in the SE corner of our property for a short period of time. Later a pair of trumpeter swans were observed across the road sitting on a nest, the same area as in previous years.
We believe that this is the original pair #933 & #934 but have no proof unless we get a photo of #933's leg band. If this is #933 & #934, then it is their ninth year in the wild. If they make it to 2015, they will officially be classified as 'wild'.
Thus far (August), the odds have been against them.
They had 5 cygnets and are down to one.
Shortly after the cygnets were born, they crossed the road onto our property and seemed to 'hide' away' in the southeast corner off the driveway (as in previous years).
However; this spring / summer was different. There were times that they would come out in full view, but not like they had in the past. We have seen no evidence of them in the deeper part of the creek that crosses under the driveway leading up to the house. There has been no fecal droppings on the driveway as in the past.
It is now autumn. We still hear trumpeter swans calling out during the night, but we do not know if the calls are from #933 & # 934. There have been times that we have heard what we think are calls from an immature swan, but we're not certain if this is accurate.
The last photo of the cygnet was taken on July 4, 2014.
It should be noted that we have not spent very much time looking for the swans in the marsh this summer as we spent a good deal of time at Sauble Beach as volunteers monitoring the (endangered) Piping Plovers.
It also should be noted that there are some large snapping turtles in the marsh and they come out of the marsh to lay eggs. Egg-laying typically begins in beginning of June, just when the cygnets hatch.