Swansong of the Lonesome Swan

PenLarry and Pen

Swansong of the Lonesome Swan by Adrian Leighton

Down on the canal bank things are stirring. For five winters we have welcomed our lonesome swan, Larry to his winter abode just below Lock1. Larry, otherwise known as “Green CPL5” (he was ringed by the Cheshire Swan Recording Group at Coole Pilate in 2017), has been with us each winter since 2020.

On a bright sunny November afternoon, defying the shortening of the day, I made my way along the leaf-strewn path up to Coxbank. Once again the time-defying view across the fields to the Sandstone ridge in the misty distance took my breath away.
I could have ended my walk there, lost in the timeless scene, but something urged me on. And how pleased I was because, in the distance, I glimpsed a sight that chased away all traces of S.A.D. There caught in the light of the November sun was not one swan but TWO.

As I approached, clearly one was the majestic familiar figure of the past five winters; the other was a prim and spightly swan. Could this be Larry and a companion?

Checking the ring number it comfirmed that this was indeed Larry and the other swan, with a much smaller “blackberry” ( knob on the top of the beak) and with a thinner neck, was a female or “pen”. Larry is also noticeably larger, although being unringed, his companion may be a young bird. Yes, Larry had a pen-friend!

I threw them some bird seed I had with me and they both swam towards me, stretching forward their long necks into the water to pluck up the seed before it sank to the depths. Clearly there was an ease between them and, dare I say it, they seemed “an item”.

Perhaps after all the long winters past Larry is no longer the Lonesome Swan. Perhaps, hope beyond hope – next Spring we might even hear the splash of tiny palmated (webbed) feet.

I am aware that, over the years, Larry has become a special character to a number of local people. On the day I was communing with Larry and his companion, two other people who had known Larry over the past winters, also shared the experience with me.

This window into the life of the natural world helps us to get the machinations of the human species into a certain prospective. Fossil records show that swans evolved from other geese about 11 million ago.

So Larry and his friend have an awesome long history behind them, far more than us Homo Sapiens.

So here ends the Tale of the Lonesome Swan – and we hope with a very happy ending.