Out on the lake my swans are crying. Their call echos with sadness as the last of their babies was taken during the night. It has been a tough year for our black swans, the two who claim the lake and creek behind our home as their own. After raising six of their seven cygnets to adulthood last year – this year, this awful 2020 has seen them lose their entire nest early in the season only to create a second batch of five eggs to lose all of them in just a matter of weeks.
We suspect eels. The lake has not been harvested now for two years and we imagine the eel population has grown. They can be strikingly large and are no match for baby swans who stray too far from the protection of their parents. It’s hard not to hate the eels.
Nature gives and takes. I’m just going to give myself permission to be sad over it.
C Writes 