Swan River

[hobbydog]

It was a nice crisp day with a brisk NW wind coming off the river. The swans are something to go see and hear. Below are some pics from today. Wasn't real happy with the pics as shooting big white birds on a sunny day can be tough. Towards the end I was starting to get it right. They sure are magnificent birds.

You can see just how much feathering they have on the neck.

[buzzsaw]

Nice pics Bill! I'll be heading up there next! I counted 63 different Eagles at one point down at Colvill and many many more were around the corner! The clouds unfortunately stuck around most of the morning. I'll e-mail some of the pics... one of them has 18 eagles in a couple trees just packed in!

[Tom Wilson]

Bill,

Were you up at Monticello? I'm gonna be stopping in there next Saturday or Sunday. Got to go to St. Cloud on one of those days, so I'm gonna make a pit stop there.

Tom W

Nice pics by the way. Did you happen to see P28?

[bullyfish]

Great pictures!!

I have a question though . . .

Why do they have the band around they're leg and they're neck? Are they different? If not, why the two bands?

Just curious.

[Dan Thiem]

WOW! Simply amazing photography! Thank you for posting them!

[Tom Wilson]

Bully,

These are Trumpeter Swans. The population here in Minnesota is around 2800. Much Research and study has been done and is still being done in order to protect this species. It is a fairly common site to see them with the bands. I believe that for a few years in a row they caught and tagged literally every cygnet they could find. They seem somewhat obtrusive, but the species has and will continue to benefit from it.

Tom W

[hobbydog]

Quote:

---

Great pictures!!

I have a question though . . .

Why do they have the band around they're leg and they're neck? Are they different? If not, why the two bands?

Just curious.

---

Not sure why they do both. Actully the lady who feeds them has an interesting article on the swans of Monticello and a bit of history. Has some good band info as well. Towards the end she talks about the neck collars and some of the icing issues.

http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/news/publications/16th_conf/10Lawrence.pdf

[MN Shutterbug]

Where is Colvill? I'd love to see 63 eagles at one place. I'll be looking for your pics.

[buzzsaw]

Red Wing down just south of the NSP plant. I'll be heading back again the first sunny weekend in March.