By Elle Wood

HARRINGTON — Visitors are migrating to the area, one of them a black swan that is baffling residents.

The bird has been wandering the city over the past week, and apparently, no one seems to know where it came from.

Its latest stop was the pond next to Friendship Village on Little Mastens Corner Road.

Harrington’s new guest has been stirring up curiosity as to where it originated and how it ended up there.

City manager Norman Barlow said he has received many questions about the swan.

“This is the first time I’ve saw one,” he said. “But it’s a popular little centerpiece in Harrington.”

The species is native to Australia. However, in 2009, a similar situation was reported in Rehoboth Beach, when a black swan showed up on Silver Lake, but no one knew why it was there.

According to local lore, it was discovered that the Rehoboth swan, Gwendolyn, lived at a home in Lincoln and had flown to the beach.
Her owners said she would often go back and forth from Lincoln and even resided there after her owners moved away.

Andrea Howey Newcomb, the clinic director of Tri-State Bird Rescue, warns Harrington residents, though.

Black swans are one of the most aggressive types, she said, and those interested should be aware if they pay the guest a visit.