Aerial Combatants
The Big Kahuna is the guy in the back snipping at the wing of the foreground Swan. He came into the lake that is off to the right, from the lake that is off to the left, and ran off 4 other swans. He has a mate on eggs on the lake off to the left but I guess he has a big territory.
Kung Foo Fighting
The swans were gett’n lively on the pond. The fighting ritual is very intriguing to observe. There are elaborate dances and then an attack on what seems to be a rather unsuspecting individual (I don’t think he got the memo that he was involved) , followed by a victory celebration followed by another attack as shown above. These are a few outtakes from a rather long sequence.
Three Trumpeter Swans
It keeps thawing and the swans keep coming. I really enjoy photographing swans, they are so beautiful and graceful and here in Alaska we are fortunate to have a lot of them. Of course the Big A K is home to a lot of migrate breeding birds which makes it just too much fun.
Alaska Swans
As we headed up the Parks Highway to our first location we saw these swans in a lake off the roadside. The fall colors are in full bloom and the swans were cooperative so we took advantage and had a seat on the tundra, ate some blueberries and photographed the swans. They cruised around for a little while then started feeding. If you have seen water fowl feed it’s a bottoms up routine. At that point we said goodbye and headed on our way. The swans usually stick around until the ice freezes up the water so much they loose their take off runway so they will still be here for a while.