Walking along the canal, two swans landed on the water. It felt that the canal was barely wide enough to contain them with wings open. Swans have massive wings.

I didn’t see them coming in behind us, but turned when I heard them. By then they were almost level with us, at head height. As they glided in, the sound was like a cyclist coasting at high speed on a smooth road. I’d never have guessed that was the sound of birds about to land.