Most of the birds that paraded from the Stratford, Ont. arena along Lakeshore Drive and into the Avon River on Sunday are said to be the descendants of a swan couple given by the Queen to Ottawa in 1967.
Their royal lineage was evident in the regal way they marched with heads held high past several hundred spectators lining the route to the water.
The waterfowl were accompanied on their journey by the bagpipes and drums of the Perth County Pipe Band.
The 22 white swans in the parade outnumbered two black swans, a bar-headed goose, two Chinese geese and two Canadian geese.
It was unclear why one white swan was already swimming on the river before the parade. No one seemed to know if it had arrived from elsewhere or if it had somehow escaped.
The oldest swan, Charles I, is 22 years old, the Stratford Beacon Herald newspaper reported in its Monday edition.
Once the birds got into the water they seemed uncertain about the best way to proceed.
They swam straight across to the other side of the river pursued by a television camera crew in a dingy.
After they got to the other side, they turned upstream and some of the swans spread their wings and flew for a few minutes.
Bob Miller, formerly honorary keeper of the Stratford swans, generally accompanies the birds each year on their march to the river from the arena where they spend the winter.
However, Miller died in February at 90, so this year the swans were led by his widow Barb, children Carol, Wendy and Bob Miller Jr. and June Kinsman, who, the Beacon Herald reported, "over the past few years has been keenly interested in the care of the swans."
The clean up afterwards was surprisingly efficient.
People seemed to evaporate quickly from the riverbanks, leaving the swans to adjust to life on the river again. There were some nasty squabbles among the species, but for the most part the birds seemed content to swim, eat and court.
The ducks, who fend for themselves year round, seemed somewhat out of sorts.
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