Swan Lake

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Caretakers at Ra'anana's renowned park lake thought they were seeing double when they recently spied not the one black swan they were used to, but two black swans sailing serenely through the water. But they quickly realized that there was nothing wrong with their eyesight and that a young black swan had indeed swooped in from parts unknown to join the lake's resident female black swan, reports www.mynet.co.il. According to the report, park employees were more than happy to take in the new resident, although they said they had no idea from where it had come. White swans are native to the northern hemisphere, but black swans are native to faraway Australia. However, many black swans have been brought to parks and zoos in northern countries, and often escape and migrate great distances. Park staff said they could not yet tell whether the new black swan was male or female as it was hesitant to let humans approach it. They said they would continue to feed it and let it build up trust in them. In the meantime, the older female black swan seems to have, well, taken the new arrival under her wing, and has been introducing it to the other winged residents of the lake: three pairs of white swans, six cormorants, two pelicans, 13 wild ducks, a kingfisher and several other water birds.