This is the hilarious moment a swan gets in a flap over a plucky swimmer who dared to venture into its waters. Within seconds of the man entering the lake in Kherson, Ukraine, the bird charges over, spreads its wings and tries to drive him out.
But despite the animal's reputation for being notoriously territorial and vicious, the swimmer seems unfazed and jokingly fronts up to the swan, pretending to box it. A video taken on January 20 captured the confrontation which started when an unknown man decided to take a winter dip in the lake. Although it appears to be a sunny day, the water temperature in Ukraine during January would be bitterly cold and the swimmer wades in cautiously, but then dunks his head under the surface to become acclimatised. Meanwhile, two black-necked swans float several metres away, but the closer one immediately spots the unwelcome trespasser and darts over to him.
The swimmer, with his back turned, cannot see the charging bird but one of his friends on the shore shouts 'watch out!'. As the swan then flaps its wings and pecks at the man's bare skin with its beak, the swimmer astonishingly begins to laugh, as do his mates on land. He even puts his hands in front of his face, mimicking a boxing match, and playfully pretends to slap the swan across the beak.
Still grinning, the swimmer then decides to leave the bird's closely-guarded territory and makes his way back on to dry land. One reason which could explain why the swan was so aggressive is that the other bird was its partner during mating season when they are at their most territorial.