One more from Bob Hierman Reserve, Dec. 16, 2010. I managed to get just a bit of blue sky peaking through the clouds. I think this is a juvenile because of its darker coloring.
Canon 40D 400 5.6L 1/1250s f5.6 exp comp +1 partial metering AE Neat Image NR light spot sharpening to compensate for detail loss in NR.
You did well in going on the plus EC. I do think some fill would have helped even more (likley with the use of a BBeamer if the bird was too far away). Good wings up pose, and yes it is great that you got it before it passed you.
From your description it seems like you performed NR on the complete image and then sharpened the NR'd swan to bring the details back. If so, then I would advise in applying NR to the BG only, and then still selectively sharpen the subject...you will notice a better result and a better quality of detail this way.