NATURE

Even Swans With Regal Poise Cannot Be Perfect

But who on earth is without imperfection?

The lonely swan is what I call this particular swan as it was just widowed at the time. I took this photo at Walton Colliery Nature Park in England.

No other bird has the grace and elegance of a swan. The way it gracefully moves conveys a style that is so regal.

A swanlike neck in a woman is regarded as the essence of poise and beauty is it not?

But there is no comparing a woman (or man?) to the elegance of a swan.

The way it smoothly glides on water or majestically takes to the air conveys the message that it is king or queen of the world — at least of the waters when it swims or of the air when it flies.

(Left) Swan walking on frozen lake at Pontefract Park in West Yorkshire, England; (right) Swan taking off to fly above Thornes Park lake, also in the same county. I took these photos in winter (L) and summer (R).

When a swan is happy, content or even excited about something, it expresses this by a delicate wagging of its tail. No noisy clapping of wings, no effusive swan sounds — growling, trumpeting.

Meanwhile, a human is inclined to express such excitement or glee with a high-five, or a whoopee, or a jump with joy. Not a “regal” reaction, is it?