A couple weeks ago, a friend and I took our dogs for a long birding drive to another part of the county. As is our luck, the weather was not in our favor despite a better forecast. As we drove, we observed swans on the river and a few other birds but mostly it was going pretty slow til one of our last stops. There, we found at least 65 Trumpeter Swans! These massive birds can weigh 25 pounds or more and have a six-foot wingspan! They have a distinctive, trumpeting call. Many of the pairs of birds were engaged in head bobbing and waving their wings at each other. Is this part of pair bonding? They mate for life. Sometimes they’d get up and fly to another part of the slush-covered shallow lake. Why? It was fascinating to watch and listen to them. The range map on All About Birds does not show them wintering here and yet they are seen most years and there have been quite a few reports of Trumpeter Swans in the county this winter.
My Everyday Photos 
3 Comments
So cool! Were you over on the reservation? My friend there usually gets more than a few every year. We certainly enjoyed them hanging out in the pond at the end of our road last month.
Nice images! I especially like the pair in flight with the gray ice for a backdrop. I’ve been watching the swans on the other side of the hill from your area. The head bobbing and wing spreading displays may be pair bonding, as you surmise, but it can also be a prelude to a fight. The head bowing seen in one of your photos looks friendly, whereas standing tall with wings spread may be an expression of aggression or dominance.
I felt lucky when they flew by so close to us! There were no fights and after a flurry of activity, they all seemed to relax so no fights broke out while we were there!