I live near the border of Cornwall and Devon and as there are swans near to me, I have become interested in following their activities since I moved here. In the spring/summer the local swans had 7 cygnets which grew up to the point where they were learning to fly and about 2 months ago they went away with their parents who then returned on their own. From what I had read online, the young swans go off to live with other swans until they are old enough to mate and start families of their own.
The reason for my question on here is that it seems like one of the young swans has returned a couple of weeks ago and now hangs out with the two parent swans again. Also another young swan seems to be living by itself on the other side of the river. I thought once they left home that was them gone for good and that they stayed together as a group with other swans through the winter.
Can a young swan (less than a year old) choose to return to its parents? And can one survive on its own, without seemingly being part of a flock?