I decided to back up and share a couple more pictures from my hike at Ludington State Park last weekend. These white objects were seen on Lost Lake, which is a portion of the larger Hamlin Lake. It's considered "lost" because it is almost completely cut off from the larger lake, connected by a couple of channels. Floating plastic bags? Buoys?
Oh, hello! It's one of our local big birds, the mute swan. These birds have become almost the signature bird of the Ludington area, yet they aren't a North American native. The swans that are native to this area are the trumpeters and tundra swans. We have them too, but not as many, except during migration times.
Here is one of the ways you can recognize the difference. The mute swans have the gracefully curved necks so familiar to bathroom decals! Trumpeters and tundras carry their necks straight up and down.
Finally, the mute swans have an orange beak; on the others it's black. And mute swans are... mute. Trumpeters are NOT. They can be very noisy. The day that Ellen and I kayaked through a flock of them they honked and honked for a long time as they all flew away.
Thanks for all the neat comments about the fern lesson. I'll definitely be showing you some more easy stuff about ferns this spring.
 | See Kayaking on November 21! to see the trumpeter swans flying See I Never Would Have Seen These If... for another picture of a mute swan |
8 comments:
Such beautiful and elegant birds. Thanks for pointing out the differences I wasn't aware of them.
Shark, it is always nice to learn something from your posts. I rarely see swans at all but I'll pay more attention now when I do.
It's good to see honesty in species naming! ;-)
Swans are one of those creatures that are always surprising when you see them. And a joy! My, they are lovely.
They look like lump of iceberg on the first photo. Beautiful Swans :)
Ann- I'm not sure how many trumpeters get around or how far south they range. I consider it quite special when I see them.
Carmen- nice to see you! Thanks! I love making people more aware of nature.
Dennis- Yes! I almost said something like that, but sometimes the names are way off, or silly. But this time they are right on.
Lin- they are big too!
Vanilla- well, you are right! I didn't think about icebergs in Hamlin Lake, but it sounds like fun.
Our resident Mute Swans are able to make a loud hissing sound when they feel threatened, certainly frightens the dogs off, when I feed them Edward the top male bites my boot for attention so he makes up for lack of voice :)
Carol- yes, I should have mentioned that they hiss. They really can be quite nasty.
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