The black swan mentioned in my previous post, Lovesick Swan, has turned out to be a female.

The love-sick black swan has been reunited with her mate after a long winter. The swan, now named Petra, fell in love with a swan-shaped paddle boat last summer but because the boat was put in for the winter, she has had to wait months of lonely winter nights to see her love again.

The paddle boat was put back into the lake and Petra quickly rejoined her love. Swans mate for life and Petra has chosen her strong, silent partner. This looks like a love that will last.

Tourists and visitors to Aesee Lake in Meunster, Germany have been witness this year to a tragic tale of unrequited love. A rare and elegant black swan has spent the summer courting his love to no avail, following her, circling her and warning all others to stay away.

The object of his affection? A pedal boat shaped like a swan.

Since his arrival at the lake in May, the black swan has been staying by his love’s side. Biologists say his behavior is typical of a lovestruck swan.

The swan boat is many times the size of the black swan, but it may be her size and the elegant sweep of her neck that attracted him. Tourists have beome wary of renting out the plastic pedal boat because the black swan follows alongside.

Swans mate for life and so this may be the most star-crossed love story of all, for no matter how long her courts her, she can never be his,

Now that winter is coming, the swan has so far refused to leave and fly south, staying close by his love. As the pedal boat swan cannot take wing and join him, the owner of the boat has agreed to move it to a nearby zoo so that the couple can spend the winter in a warm and safe place.