Visiting Swans

One morning in mid-December I looked out the window at the lake, expecting to see the usual geese and perhaps a few ducks. Large white birds were there in profusion, but they were tall… oh, those aren't geese! Swans! A large flock of swans had flown in and were gliding around like they owned the lake!

I grabbed a camera and took a few pictures from the window. Then I put on my coat and went outside to get some closer shots. I used the zoom, which not only gives some nice pictures but also helps my eye to see things in greater detail as I look through the viewfinder. (Yes, I always buy a camera that has a viewfinder! It shows me the scene better than a screen does and also helps me keep the camera steady as I hold it against my face.)

Now I've seen swans in Virginia before, particularly near Montross and on Silver Lake in Dayton. But we hadn't seen them here before. I took dozens of pictures and posted a couple on Facebook that same day on our neighborhood's page.

While I was out there, a couple of trucks stopped on the other side of the lake and I heard two men talking. One said that the swans flew in during the night. I remembered hearing a great squawking late at night, like geese honking in great alarm. That must have been when the swans landed.

Now the geese were keeping their distance from these larger birds. I believe these are tundra swans.

I took dozens of pictures, so many that I had trouble deciding which ones to share here on this blog. So I procrastinated. But I finally went through them yesterday and selected some favorites.