They were certainly not accommodating as they were loitering on the far side of the river.
Although I had my longest lens, the one that zooms to 400mm, this was the closest that I could get. It would have been nice to trample on yon private property to get closer, but some people are funny about that.
This next photo is approximately from the same distance but I think I had changed my spot somewhat. I decided to compose with the swans at the top of the frame to eliminate the houses.
Then, I chose my best photo from the lot that I shot. It is only the best because one swan was considerate enough to raise its head for a bit. Shooting handheld at such a zoom and then cropping by a lot results in a photo that is not super sharp, but it isn't bad under the circumstances either.
I have one more cropped photo showing ducks near the swans. I only know mallards, so I will rely on others to ID them for me. They seem smaller than mallards with black heads and white on their bodies.
This is slightly off topic, but someone recently asked about our river not being frozen. It certainly isn't as it runs through town, but it is frozen before it reaches town. This photo shows the dividing line.
The boundary never varies too far from here although it does move right somewhat in very cold winters as the current flows from left to right.
The river widens to the left and gets wide enough beyond the photo to call it a lake: Mississippi Lake. That width results in a less rapid current, and as a result the lake freezes. Once the river enters town limits the channel narrows and the water begins to move too fast to freeze.
Out on the lake, however, the water freezes enough that people erect huts for ice fishing. It being a milder winter than normal, I don't know if that happened this year.
The red dot is approximately where I took the photos; the arrow points in the direction of the last photo towards the lake. The town is mostly the other way. Of course, the river geography is why the town is where it is in the first place, for water power was key back in the day.
Addendum: The ducks have been identified as Common Goldeneye.
15 comments:
I had to look on the map where you are. Is that Ontario or Quebec? we were thinking of doing a driving vacation along the St. Lawrence to Gaspe and back in June. We decided against it for now and booked a trip to Wyoming instead to Grand Tetons. we may still do some exploring there in August after the family vacation on Oneida Lake north of Syracuse. It was the figuring out where to stay over nights that was the drawback and too the amount of time in the car.
I only saw black stalks and thought that was it. Until you zoomed in and there were actually white bodies attached to those black stalks.
Some animals are so not accommodating to cameras. I once tried to take a photo in a zoo of a warthog, but it would not budge. Not even when my colleague started jumping up and down shouting 'here puss puss puss, here puss!'.
Tundra swans? I can't imagine living in that house and just looking out of a window and seeing them. That would be beyond exciting and I thank you for taking the time to crop and enlarge your photo … my old eyes where squinting and thinking "AC's gone daft. There are no swans there!"
PS: thanks for your nice comment about my book.
It is a beautiful area, AC.
I always find that any movement on my part is always met with the birds taking flight. And I never get close. You need a great lens. How fortunate to see those swans!
Cool swans, but I agree with other comments, only the latter shots really show swans. Thanks for the map, and I don't see a dam forming the lake, so I wonder if it was naturally made by the topography, rather than our usual ones with dams. Yes, our two Mississippis offer a challenge!
These photos remind me of the swans I saw in the lake in Zurich, Switzerland (December 1969). Beautiful creatures with extremely long necks. So graceful in the water. The next day, it snowed and the water froze. No swans! Where did they go???
Lucky you! We very occasionally get them on a small pond on the Ashgrove road. I have one extreme telephoto shot, not as good as yours. I have a monopod that opens out from my walking stick that I use sometimes, but it is not much better than hand held.
It looks as if we will be back to the winter storm shots by Thursday. Sigh. this early spring has been just fine.
Message to Marcia. The Gaspe drive is absolutely splendid and most of the motel and hotel owners speak enough English for you to get by. We have done it multiple times and it is worth it. Recommend one night in Gaspe, one night at Perce. (E acute not available on this keyboard.)
Those might be buffleheads. If they have a white cheek. We get a few down here before they migrate back up your way. It is hard being held back by the equipment. Maybe next time, if there is a next time, you can knock on the door of the house and ask if you can tramp back to catch the swans with your camera.
Some day the swans will visit you. Here they don't stay long. they are concentrating on going north. In the fall they show up for a few weeks.
They're nice to look at, close up or no.
We can tell how regal they are from farther away. And how large! The ducks look so small. :)
What beautiful animals! I think your photos are pretty darn wonderful. :-)
The swans are Tundra Swans and the ducks are Common Goldeneye. Well done to photograph them and thanks for sharing this encounter. Very rewarding I am sure,
Beautiful birds!
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