Meeting out on the lake

On my way home from work I stopped at Te Wai Orea (Western Springs Lake) for a walk. Te Wai Orea is the name (in Te Reo) given by Maori, and is now taking precedence on the signs around the park.

One of this pair of swans had approached another adult swan with three cygnets. It then spun around and advanced rapidly on a third adult swan 30 - 40 m away. I had the camera ready, expecting a show of wing span followed by one chasing the other across lake. Instead they circled and would the necks and head in a pattern seemingly without touching. Romanticisation or anthropomorphism would suggest that this was courtship, displaying a joining of hearts. 

What I found odd was that the swan approached the parent and three cygnets first, and then appeared to leave and establish some sort of connection with another swan.