Trumpeter Swans are making it back north

[cody6766]

2 of these guys made it to the Anchorage area a week or 2 ago. We went on a little family hike and got much closer than I thought they'd let us. I also got a chance to try out my new 150-600 Tamron.

 

[Sk8r]

Beautiful!
I lived on a lake in OKC, and we ended up, briefly, with a swan---we think escaped from a fancy decorative pond about 10 miles away. He flew on, poor fellow, I hope back to company he recognized, or maybe north, just north.

 

[cody6766]

Thanks! I never saw them last year, but it may be because that trail was closed for "aggressive bear activity" every time I went down that way. I didn't want to push my limits with the brown bears munching salmon, so I always heeded the signs.

Was your sighting at Lake Hefner? I was shocked at the number of species of birds around that lake. I doubt he's around now, but there was a gull there that wasn't supposed to live in North America. Apparently they're native around Scotland. He was by himself, living in a flock of native gulls. We went out there for bird watching for an Ornithology class I took at UCO several years ago.
I grew up in OKC and will likely find my way back there after this assignment.