Swan Viewing Park

Since I was off from work today I decided to head over to the Swan Viewing Park in Monticello, MN.  Each year over 1,000 Trumpeter Swans, along with Canada Geese and an assortment of duck, gather along the Mississippi River for a daily meal of corn.  What started as a homeowner, Sheila Lawrence, winter feeding some ducks and geese, a few decades ago, turned into a Trumpeter Swan spectacle attracting people, especially photographers, from around the nation.  

Usually feeding time is around 10 am and it was a little after 11 so I wasn't expecting much.  But the sounds coming from the water indicated alot of activity. Sure enough it was feeding time and the swans were swarming the feeding buckets. Swans do not normally congregate but when there is food for the taking they tolerate each other.  One of the side shows is when two families face off.  They'll squawk, bob their heads, ruffle their their feathers before one family charges the other then it's all over.

Roger

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