Not as exotic as “Gorillas in the Mist,” this scene revealed itself much closer to home when rounding a corner on our “Drive-to-Daycare Wildlife Loop #3.” Birk and Bjorn were fairly non-plussed. Birk went back to playing Angry Birds on my iPhone after a verbal pat on his dad’s back, “Oh swans, nice spot daddy” (“spot” is a birder term for finding a good bird). But I loved the moody scene. And overcast days are when you want to photograph pure white swans as the contrast between the white birds and surroundings is reduced and there is much less chance of blowing out the whites.
Unlike 20 years ago, when a birder would assume that any spring or fall swans seen in northern Minnesota would be Tundra Swans (“Whistling Swans” back then), today we assume that they are Trumpeter Swans (if the flock is under a dozen birds or so). Back from the brink of extinction in the Lower 48, the Trumpeters owe their “thrival” (thriving survival…yes, I made the term up) to Carrol Henderson and the Minnesota DNR Nongame Wildlife division. Back in the early 1980s, Carrol traveled to Alaska where the species was hanging on, and brought back a dozen or so eggs. They were hatched and raised in the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) Parks. Finally in 1987 several two-year olds were released into the wild. Today the Trumpeters are thriving, with 300 nesting pairs in Minnesota and several thousand wintering on the Mississippi River near Monticello. They are also nesting in Wisconsin and now even reclaiming historical territory in Ontario and Manitoba.
It’s good to have you back, my trumpeting friends!
Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6, 1/250 second at f5.6, ISO 160, lens braced on car door frame.
3 responses to “Swans in the Mist”
Marvil
October 22nd, 2011 at 11:06
Thanks for sharing this beautiful photo and the history of the swan restoration in Minnesota. Incredible what one person with a vision can do. Got to love you son’s comment, too. Kids are such great sounding boards.
Beret Nelson
October 22nd, 2011 at 23:46
Wisconsin did the same thing in the early 90’s. Brett was working out in the same area that summer, and the swan guy (Rod King) from Fish and Wildlife up here was the bush pilot assigned to bringing Brett (and the crew he was with) the mail. Brett has pictures of some of the swan eggs the Wisconsin crew gathered. Shortly after they left, I got to fly out to see Brett, with Rod who was also checking to make sure the swans were back on their nests. (Which means lots of stomach churning swooping around in a small plane…:-) Once he saw a moose, and asked if I saw it. When I said no, he started swooping again…I’m thinking, “I’ve seen moose, I’m good!”:-)) We recently saw a documentary on the WI swans, it sounded like that was sucessful too. This fall I focused on getting crane pictures for quilting, next year I’m after the swans…I prefer the tundra swans though:-)
photonaturalist
November 7th, 2011 at 09:40
Very Cool, Beret! Yes, we don’t see as many Tundra Swans as we used to in northern Minnesota….Still thousands every spring down in southern Minnesota along the Mississippi River.