Truly, one of the most beautiful sounds heard the world over is the sound that the wings of Mute Swans make when airborne. I call it vibrant throbbing wing beats. The highly audible sound of the wind through the wings is mesmerizing and it is the reason, or one of several reasons, why I became so interested in swans and why I decided to make a film about the swans of Cape Ann. No other species of swan’s wings make this sound, only Mute Swans.
As I am usually trying to capture the swans flying on film, I didn’t have any photographs of them in flight. Sunday afternoon I arrived at Niles just as Mr. Swan was chasing the new couple off his turf. I did not have time to get out my movie camera but did manage some snapshots. In the photo below you can see Mr. Swan is “busking;” his feathers are fluffed to their fullest to make himself look as large and threatening as possible to what he considers intruders upon his territory. This photo was taken moments after he chased the new couple to the harbor, returning to Niles to do a victory lap around the pond. 
Good Morning Gloucester 
It’s great to see these birds in flight. How often do we get to see a swan flying, let alone 2 of them at the same time? Thanks Kim. What great pictures and story.
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Thank you Jeff–they are so exquisite in flight, and the power and strength needed for lift off is extraordinary.
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So I would love to know if anyone can estimate how old the Niles swan is…
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Yes. It is thought that Mr. Swan is at least twenty-one years old. My friend Lois has photographs of him, with his first mate and offspring, dating from 1997. Swans are at the very least two years old when they are able to mate. Extraordinary, and a testament to Mr. Swans survival skills because swans in the wild usually live only half as long.
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A little fluffing action I see and that is some cloudy weather to fly in no grounding these swans however! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂
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🙂
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Kim: These photos are really special. The beauty is breathtaking. I’ve never seen a swan fly! Your nature photos are very calming and they are so interesting because they are mostly from our local landscape. Thank you
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