Monday, December 31, 2007

Trumpet Swans

It is rare to find Trumpet Swans very far south in the US in winter. They mostly migrate to Wyoming and Minnesota. In 1992 a flock of them migrated to a small lake in Heber Springs, Arkansas. It is believed they were blown off course in a winter storm. They have returned each year since then, and the flock grows in number each year. My mom told me about them after she recently heard about them and drove to Heber Springs to check them out. They can be found on Magnes Lake, which is on personal property and has since become a wildlife refuge to protect the swans.


The first time Mom went to photograph them it was a very cold, windy, miserable day. She listened to weather reports all week in hopes of finding a day nice enough to enjoy the trip to Arkansas to attempt to photograph the swans again. We decided the best day would be the day we were heading back to Texas so we just made a detour on our trip and she followed us. I'm glad we took the time to stop. The day was fairly warm (for the Ozarks in December especially!) and there were 87 swans present according to Marty. There have been as many as 120-130 found there this winter and they usually arrive around Thanksgiving and stay through Valentine's Day.












All of us in front of the lake:
(left to right) Marty, Me, Jerry, Mom, JoAn, Heather (with Missy)







Marty, Me, Heather (and Missy)


































7 comments:

busysingersmom said...

How beautiful! Looks like you arrived home safely!

E @ Scottsville said...

Wow, awesome pictures. Looks like the perfect weather for it, too! Glad you're home finally. It was a LOOOOOONG week! =0)

Anonymous said...

Way to much to catch up on

whew

Anonymous said...

Gostei muito desse post e seu blog é muito interessante, vou passar por aqui sempre =) Depois dá uma passada lá no meu site, que é sobre o CresceNet, espero que goste. O endereço dele é http://www.provedorcrescenet.com . Um abraço.

Anonymous said...

The swans are beautiful... and if you are blogging ya made it home.... Welcome Home

Anonymous said...

HELLLLOOOOOOOO.........WHERE ARE YOU GUYS???

NEED MORE PICS!!! AND I KNOW YOU HAVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I hope you got as many good pics of the swans as i did. Sure glad we decided to do that, made it easier to say good bye too. Love ya MOM

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