Saturday, July 23, 2016

Swan Family

While we gathered and waited for the sunset shots I shared with you Friday, we had fun watching a family of Mute Swans emerge from the marsh and swim down the lake.  Apparently they do this every evening.

The swans were a long distance away; this is a much cropped shot.  We think there were four cygnets.  You can recognize the Mute Swans by their orange beaks.  They tend to be found in solitary pairs, and don't migrate, unlike the Arctic nesting Tundra and Trumpeter Swans we see in larger flocks going through in the early spring.  They usually mate for life.

The reflections, and the evening light over the marsh below, were a reminder of what the 'golden hour' for photography is all about.  The sun was spilling its light across the lake in a long slant, lighting the eastern shore.  This is a 'Canada Goose fence', very effective at keeping the geese off your lawn.

We were fairly close to the south end of Lake Eugenia, where the water gets shallow and long-ago-cut stumps emerge from the water (keeping motorboats at bay, but a great place to paddle).

The swans emerged from that marsh, on the far side of the lake, and meandered slowly northward, giving the cygnets a chance to practice their swimming I presume!

Eventually they turned and headed back southwards, into the shelter of the marsh.

But at some point while I had my camera at hand, a tern, probably a Caspian or Common Tern, swooped down into the water with an abrupt splash, emerged to sit on a stump for about 4 seconds, and flew away.  This is a hugely cropped shot of the moving bird, but you can see the fish in its beak, a fish that would be a substantial mouthful I think!

Our hosts would say 'Just another beautiful evening on the lake'.

12 comments:

  1. Indeed it was! You captured it beautifully.

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  2. Regarding swans - Mute Swans will migrate from areas where water becomes permanently frozen in the winter to areas of open water, such as the Great Lakes. Thus it is not long-distance migration, but it is migration nonetheless. Tundra Swans are "true" migrants in Ontario migrating in the spring to their northern nesting grounds and in the fall to areas off the Atlantic coast. Trumpeter Swans, formerly extirpated in Ontario, and successfully reintroduced, breed primarily at Wye Marsh and migrate to the north shore of Lake Ontario for the winter (LaSalle Park in Burlington, for example). Trumpeter Swans seen in Ontario are not migrating to or from arctic breeding grounds.

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  3. Gorgeous reflections on the lake. The Mute Swans are lovely!

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  4. Such pretty birds, I like the reflections on the water :-)

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  5. My local Mute Swans have only managed to raise two cygnets this year. The light in the evenings can be very beautiful indeed.

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  6. Lovely selection of photo's ...
    Thanks for sharing

    All the best Jan

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  7. The reflections are amazing as are all these pictures.

    Have a blessed week.

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  8. You know all the swans in the UK mysteriously belong to the Queen? They've been holding the annual Swan Upping recently where they take every swan out of the Thames and take a look at it and count them all and probably tag them these days.Suddenly realise I don't know very much about this weird custom. Oh yes, and only the Queen (or King is any) is allowed to eat swan. I imagine the meat is quite strong.

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  9. I love all your pictures but especially enjoyed looking at the swans and their cygnets. They are so sweet. Your reflections are wonderful, too. Gosh I sure am getting gushy, aren't I? :-)

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  10. Really great job on the distance shots.

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  11. Swans certainly are beauties... and they know it!

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