On their annual migration south, Trumpeter Swans are visiting the Lake in threes and fours.
These trumpeters are in the waters beside Kokanee Creek Park.
To my surprise, these swans took flight. The trumpeter is a big bird and must run across the water to pick up the speed necessary to become airborne. This gave me the unusual opportunity to photograph the liftoff. But, why did they take flight? Usually when a swan spots a beach walker, it just lazily moves slightly offshore, so this abrupt departure was unexpected.
Now airborne, one of the Trumpeter Swans flies past.
As always, more wonderful pictures. Thanks Alistair for sharing your knowledge and photographic skills.
Really nice to see these photos of the swans!
We saw three of them yesterday here in Nelson, circling to land in the bay just beyond, followed by a group of smaller birds who then flew in front of the swans. I had wondered if the smaller birds were hassling the swans but they all seemed to fly in harmony. Were they ducks?
We often visit the swans that spend the winter on the Slocan river, north of Lemon Creek. I have assumed that the ducks we see swimming alongside the swans are benefiting from the vegetation that the longer necked swans root out and bring to the surface. Cornell’s All About Birds entry on the swans confirms this.
“Sometimes ducks join feeding swans to glean vegetation and feed on insects they disturb.”
Beautiful shots Alistair! I saw a flock of about seven near the slide area at Brilliant about a week or so ago. I think that when they take off like that they probably remember being chased by dogs that are with humans…..birds are far from being stupid and have a good memory.