Our Feathered Friends
Many of you have enjoyed watching and observing the different birds at Oxbow. One of the species of unusual geese that can usually be found at Oxbow is the Egyptian Geese. As you might suspect the Egyptian Geese is a nonnative species for the Americas. They are quite regal in appearance.The swan living at Oxbow is a species called Mute Swan. According to the website Charming Fare the description and habitat of the mute swan is: "They are a large white bird in size about 58-60 inches with a long neck held in distinctive "S" curve at rest. A distinguishing feature of the Mute Swan is the orange bill with black base and knob above their bill. Mute swans where introduced from Europe into North America, where they are a widespread species and permanent residents in many areas in the Northeast. They can be found in lakes, ponds, coastal bays, marshes, and other wetland areas and requires habitat with plentiful aquatic vegetation and large areas of shallow water.”
We have named our Mute Swan, "Houdini." He was donated to the gardens about a year ago and earned his name by escaping every time we tried to catch him. It took three days and lots of man hours to bring him to his new home but over the year has settled in nicely. He put on quite a show for me during the freeze. Most of the pond was frozen except for a small area he was swimming in. I stopped to snap some photos and he became quite animated.
