Saturday at the source of the Severn

It was a mild day and Vicki and I thought we'd leave the "cabin" fever behind and get some fresh air. We were expecting Trumpeter swans but not the 100 to 120 we counted - there were 2 other groups of each approximately 20 birds bringing the total to more than 150. And most were banded this year, even the young which might have made up nearly 50% of the birds we saw.

While we were watching the swans some motion on the snow caught our attention:

I then went up on the road bridge and took the next photos looking up river:

Then I crossed the road and looked down stream:

I'll leave the turkeys and sunset impressions for another time.

W O B

Swans at dusk - Saturday continued

After Donald shared with us some memories Vicki and I shared some of ours. Usually one is disappointed when one returns - the memories are better than reality - however, this time nature did not disappoint.

There were between 50 and 60 Trumpeters within trumpeting distance and 30 right at our feet. There seemed to be quite a mixture of young and old, banded and not. No Canada Geese! However, there were at leastr 2 species of duck present, Black and Mallard.

The cygnets caught my attention: look at their beaks:

Is this normal? Environment or breeding? The top one reminded me a little about Mute swan's yellow-orange beak. Do they sometimes inter-breed?

These 9 seem more normal:

These 3 mottled:

There seemed to be an unusual amount of activity or aggression.

Not all were upset:

And there was lots of room:

Still birds will be birds.

W O B