Trumpeter Swans

We read online that there were swans down by the boat launch, but as we were passing the park, Sue saw them before we got that far. The swans generally show up sometime in winter, often at a distance, way out in the river. On this day, however, they were in shooting range, especially because I had brought my longest lens.

Actually if I may step back a bit, the first group that we saw was at the far bank, quite a distance away,  even with the long lens.

This was at full zoon — 400mm.

It was as we got nearer the river that we spotted another family of seven, quite close to the near riverbank. That is when AC began to press the shutter like a madman. 

Here's the whole group, sometimes collectively referred to as a bevy, along with two, chummy mallard ducks. Not knowing anything about swans, we presume that the two white swans are the parents and the darker ones their juvenile offspring.

I didn't know that they are Trumpeter swans until I looked it up when I got back home.
They are very similar to Tundra swans that also have little yellow markings around the eyes.

I began to try to isolate some from the whole bevy. This next photo took me down to four, and I like the two up and two down. I remember waiting until the closest swan lifted its head and dripped water from its last foraging.

I was eventually able to capture a single swan, not that I like the photo any better, but I just wanted this photo as well as the others.

Finally, I thought it would be fun to capture a duck with one of the juvenile swans.

Those were a few of the scads of photos that I squeezed off.