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. This is not unusual, with the likely cause being culling due to a birth defect. There are two English Mutes, all gray and four Polish Mutes, all white. The gray will all be gone by their first birthday, but the two types will still be distinguishable by the color of their bills, legs, and feet. Anatomically and physiologically, they are the same.
Sully and Susie, each either four or five years of age, were late in nesting and chose a sand trap for their first nest. Being first-timers, the odds were against having viable eggs. Time dragged on and Susie continued to sit on five eggs. On May 17, very late in the nesting season, out popped four cygnets. The next day, there was no sign of a rush to get them in the water, so they were rousted and coaxed down a steep bank where Sully was waiting. The pair and their cygnets provided good entertainment for the passing cars. The area had been without cygnets following the illness of Vicki in 2011 and her transfer out, with Henry, in 2012.
Given the two week difference in their hatching dates, the swan vet will see them when one set is three weeks old and the other set is one week old. I've been assured that the youthful set will do just as well from the "vet trauma" as their older cousins.