In an amazing testimony to their parenting skills, all six cygnets of Stan and Wendy became viable juveniles and were placed in pairs for what hopes to be a ...

Pippa, a 4 year old female, died of avian botulism toxin a few days ago.  She was a sibling of Susie, and lost out to Susie for the affection of Sully.  She ...

Stan and Wendy performed their annual hatching, getting six babies in the water on Day 2, or May 4.  For some reason, by Day 4 the flock was down to five.  T...

Alan and Beverly were the oldest pair from the nests of George and Gracie.  Alan was found still in the water on June 29 with no signs of injury.  He was app...

When Stan was absent for two days at the "daily feeding frenzy", it was on to the bicycle to scour the golf course for his whereabouts.  I found him in very ...

While the hopes for a successful first brood for Sully and Susie were tempered by their young age, the results were spectacular.  They did an excellent job o...

The cygnet processing in May had three goals; 1) pinioning, 2) microchipping, and 3) gender testing from blood feathers.  From the time capturing was initiat...

As of today, three of the eight cygnets remain in Stan and Wendy's territory.  They are no longer social and the parents will soon move against them, clearin...

With only one of four cygnets captured from Stan and Wendy, the process of capturing the three had to wait until the parents decided it was time to clear the...

What a hot dry spring.  Imagine sitting on a nest for 35 straight days with such conditions.  Both breeding pairs were taxed to the max, and each produced on...

When the Observer began their chronical of the Longboat swans, I was asked, besides Alan Stone's George and Gracie, about the names of the others.  Being suc...

With Stan away, never to return, Wendy went about her parental duty to raise the three cygnets in their home territory.  To the north, Sully and Susie, with ...

As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men and swankeepers will always go awry...or something like that.​  The two cygnets of Sully and Susie were matu...

The good news was that Susie and Sully did not nest in the same sand trap as they did the previous two years.  The bad news was that their nest was about 12 ...

Of the five cygnets from 2015, three were placed on LBK.  The two males from Susie and Sully were designated as "excess" since the "territories" were full an...

First, names are important and, second, when I put up a slide of the names of LBK swans, it mesmerizes the audience.  So here is a complete history of our de...

The male pair being harbored at Camelot Lakes were awaiting placement elsewhere, and Eric and I did our best to explore all options.  Again, an out-of-the-bl...

I've always said that swan care comes with surprises, but it's all teachable moments.  With the people of Sunnyside Lakes so motivated, euphoria fogged over ...

A phone call out of the blue from Sarasota Jungle Gardens on problems with their swans started it all.  One swan had died and the other needed a companion.  ...

Eric came to LBK to learn how to care for his swan pair at Camelot Lakes.  When I saw him take a hard fall capturing an adult swan, and not letting go though...