Swan in Display

This past Sunday I visited one of my favorite hunting grounds, Great Meadows in Concord, Massachusetts and I was treated to a wonderful, and somewhat disturbing (see below), display.

First off, I have been hunting (photographically speaking) swans for a long time and have never seen them other than in a pair.  But as I neared the pond I saw seven swans swimming in a shallow alcove (although they never came into my camera's view at one time).  This, of course, was a herd, which is what a group of swans is called, unless they're in the air, at which point they're a wedge.  These are not new terms proving, once again, we are certainly not the first generation to have too much time on our hands.

I think the mottled ones are juveniles from last year but I'm not sure.  At any rate, one of these put on a short display and, getting no reaction from the others, slid into the reeds, a bit red-faced.

After a bit, all but two of this herd flew off and the male of the remaining pair began to get amorous. He did a respectable job of trying to get the pen's attention (cob = male, pen = female, in swan land.  This holds whether they're on land,  in the water or in the air - a rock bed of consistency)

After a brief time the pen showed some mild interest and let the cob climb up on her mound. (No, the patch of soil she was standing on.  Let try to keep our minds out of the gutter for just a moment?).

After that....well nothing happened. They just stood there like swans on a mound.  As I turned to leave, though, I did see the pen shaking her head and quacking something about ‘first date' or the like.

The problem with this experience is that we're less than 3 weeks into winter.  In spite of the rise in promiscuity in water fowl like this (rise of internet use, lack of parental oversite in movies etc.) I just wouldn't expect this type of behavior at this time of year.

Returning home I found yellow jackets buzzing around the yard and two sparrows who have built their nest under our eves for the past 4 years were busy building this year's nursery.  It's been my experience that our wildlife isn't confused by a January thaw but a bunch of animals seem to be confused in this area (New England) this year.  Are others seeing premature springtime behavior where they are?