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A New Swan Story Brightens Bookshelves
For all of us who have admired the majesty of swimming swans, Gwen Keane has written and, her husband, Bill Balderston, has photographed a fascinating story of their encounter with them. Swan Wait is set on Indian Creek, off the Chesapeake Bay in Kilmarnock, Virginia.
This is a story born of a couple’s keen sensitivity to the nuances of interaction between human beings, pets and wild things. In 2006, as a result of a senseless shot by a neighbor, Gwen and Bill lost their sixteen-month-old Augie, a Northern Neck Black Dog. Shortly thereafter, Gwen saw three mute swans swimming in their creek (Mute swans are distinguished by the black flashing knob from the base of the bill to the forehead). As if Mother Nature wanted to help Gwen and Bill heal, a subtle bonding between humans and swans began to unfold.
To understand the genesis of this story, I asked Gwen when she started a diary of the swans' activities. She said, " In 2006 we found ourselves sitting on the dock feeding and talking to the swans as if they understood every word we said. I began to take notes. Bill, being a city boy taken by the beauty of our creek, began to photograph their comings and goings."
They watched the antics of the juvenile swans and the care of the adult swans took to prepare their cygnets for independence. They were amazed that eventually a special pair responded to their names—Duke and Marcia. These mute swans became companion swans just as Augie, their rescue dog had been their companion dog.
From their spot on Indian Creek, Gwen and Bill watched these elegant birds that weigh about 50 lbs, fly at 50-55 miles per hour, make a musical wing beat, who were claiming their territory.
For five years Gwen noted and Bill photographed these stately birds as they continued to visit their dock on Indian Creek. As if on a mission, the birds taught their human friends much about the life cycle and life style of mute swans. Gwen has captured this heretofore untold story in Swan Wait.
Bill’s photographs are distinctive because he has allowed the sunlight on the creek to enhance many of them. There are circles of waves created by the swimming swans; there are shoreline reflections and a never-ending change of colors reflected from the sky.
While the main characters in this book are mute swans, it is interesting to note that they are one of three species of white swans. There are two others—trumpeter and tundra—and all three can be found along the Atlantic coast from Canada to northern South Carolina, as well as along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to California.
The history of the mute swan’s appearance in Virginia is two-fold. Contemporary accounts place their advent in the Chesapeake Bay in 1962 when several escaped from Eastern Shore, Maryland. To allow us to claim swans as native to North America, we find among early colonists papers the phrase "swans such as we have at home."
A 2011 study in a book, The First Colonies, from the British Museum of Art, shows a painting by John White of a mute swan in Virginia in 1585. This painting was before European colonization in Virginia and documents that the bird is native to Virginia.
Interestingly, research disclosed that the mute swan has been the national bird of Denmark since 1984. We recall a fairy tale from our childhood, The Ugly Duckling. We chuckle now at the familiar theme. He was "harassed" by his fellow barnyard mates because he was homeless. We love the happy ending when he surprised everyone by maturing into a graceful swan.
Frequently we hear someone say that a special purchase is their swan song. This phrase refers to the legend that a dying swan is utterly silent until the last moment of life when he sings one achingly beautiful song before dying.
Here is an opportunity to read a new swan story captured in pictures as well as words. Swan Wait is an exquisite book, designed with white lettering on rich purple paper. The book is available now in some local shops in Kilmarnock for $24.95, at The Box in White Stone, The Dandelion in Irvington, and directly from Gwen at swanwait.com
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