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When I turned the corner on the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Drive, I was surprised to see this Trumpeter Swan family swimming slowly through the lily pads.
You’ll notice the adult swans are banded, the four gray-colored (the young swans) are leading their parents as they swim across the pond.
Check out the pink bills of the young swans!
I had to take a picture, they lined up for me in a perfect pose!
I was thrilled to see Trumpeter Swans swimming at our nearby marsh this month.
Though partially covered with ice, there was open water in a couple sections of the marsh.
The four swans looked at home as they lazily swam with the Mallards in the open water at the south end of the marsh.
Why was I so excited to see the swans?
I haven’t seen Trumpeter Swans at our nearby marsh for over two years.
The aggressive Mute Swans arrived at the marsh two years ago and didn’t allow the Trumpeter Swans to remain there.
I was sad, because I heard from other birders that a Trumpeter Swan pair had nested at the marsh for over a dozen years.
For two years, my husband and I watched the Trumpeters raise their young at the marsh.
It was one of our summer pastimes to go to the marsh to watch the young cygnets as they grew up.
Until two years ago when the Mute Swans arrived.
Unfortunately, the open water on the marsh didn’t last this month.
Deep cold moved in four days after I took this photo. The swans have moved on since the marsh is now completely frozen.
Wait, slow down a minute, I asked my husband yesterday as we drove down the paved road past Erie State Game Area near the Ohio/Michigan border.
I had seen two large splotches of white in the back of the pond and wanted a second look.
Could they be a pair of Trumpeter Swans? Continue reading Photo of the Week: Trumpeter Swans