dduane:

petermorwood:

A swan somewhere in Switzerland - that’s SBB rolling stock in the background - trying to decide between diplomatic neutrality (Swiss attitude) and plain old aggression (Swan attitude).

And that isn’t the most aggressive swan we’ve seen recently. This one in Bregenz (Austria) had a fit of furious territoriality and chased every single other aquatic bird - ducks, coots, grebes, even seagulls -  out of the boat-pool.

Look at the wake it’s kicking up as it goes after the last remaining Other Swan, having pursued it from the main pool into this little channel by the boarding-dock.

I’m sorry I didn’t get a pic of the sidelong stink-eye it gave D when she laughed as it went by, because that was a Look to raise blisters…

It finally did a running takeoff at the Other Swan - who finally took the hint and flew away in the general direction of Germany - then came back and dominated the boat-pool for the rest of the afternoon while looking quite ridiculously pleased with itself…

Seriously… the look it gave me was simply withering. I have never been so unmistakably and comprehensively told “FOAD, mammal” by a member of another species before.

(ETA: I did a little hunting around and found the original photo of the Swiss swan, which is here on Flickr. The train station is [as I kind of thought] Zurich HB / main station, in April of 2013. Zuri HB is very close to the river Aare, which is where the swan probably came in from – there are a lot of swans and other waterfowl around that part of the river. The photographer confirms that the swan was “forcibly removed” but not hurt in the process.)