A swan back on Mallards Lake

Over the years we've watched a pair of swans successfully rear young on Mallards Lake. A copule of years ago the male died through illness caused by eating bacteria in old stale bread that was left floating in the water after people had left. Last year the female was on the lake on her own and we kept hoping that a male would pass by and join her. It was not to be, so eventually she disappeared. Yesterday to our delight a swan was back but only the one. Is it the original female or a different bird altogether? It would be really good to see a second bird on the lake and breeding resume.

It was another sparking frosty morning. I was tempted to post a shot of a forlorn mallard or bewildered gulls standing on the ice covering most of the lake but liked this shot better.

Susan did some painting this afternoon while I went off to Canterbury to referee a University rugby match. A bit of a conflagration on half time when an enormous fight broke out involving 8 or so players from each side. No idea where that came from as the game to that point had been played in good spirit. In the melee I was not able to tell who did what so I gave the captains a general warning as to the fate of anyone who so  much as looked like throwing a punch would be off and blew for half time. It worked, second half was passed like the vast majority of the first half.