SEVEN Swans a Swimming......(well, Ok...TWO then!)

We have snow now here in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan.

But, I still had autumn photos to show you!!

In fact, I haven't even gotten out to take any winter photos for you yet!

(I'm slacking!)

But hopefully, the photos today will please you

and

get you in the Christmas Spirit..

Now all together now...

let's sing the Twelve Days of Christmas together, okay?

Go ahead.

Start.

I'll catch up to you when you get to...............

SEVEN Swans a Swimming!!!

Ok.

I lied.

I only have TWO swans a swimming for you today...

but

they are such beautiful creatures when you find them in the wild...

We drove out to a pond I jokingly refer to as our "secret pond" with my husband.

He had just said..."we probably won't see anything today, because most of the ducks have already migrated out of here. It is too late in the season".

We rounded the corner and something white caught BOTH of our eyes.

He stopped the truck so I could walk in closer,

just in case there was something on the pond.

Imagine my thrill, when I saw

not just ONE

but TWO

gorgeous swans swimming and eating by a beaver hut!

My heart nearly stopped while shooting these. I was so afraid they'd see me and fly away:

Do you know what kind of swans they are?

Trumpeters?

Mute?

Tundra?

You can read about them HERE.

I was very happy that they were close enough to get with my 300mm lens!

They are so elegant and graceful!:

I want one for my bathtub.

Oh, wait. I don't HAVE a bathtub.

Wonder if he'd like it in the shower?:

They are even dramatic in black and white:

I could've watched them ALL DAY!:

They did look my way and noticed me.

I sucked in my breath.

They ignored that.  (They must have thought it was the wind).

(thank goodness).

Besides.  I think they were more hungry than worried about me:

One of them stepped on top of a log so we could see his entire self.

As suspected, his entire self

was gorgeous.

Such a showoff.

But, who could blame him?:

I bet they were named King and Queen

at the Homecoming Dance:

They mate for life.

Did you know that?

You can bet that I will be back there

next spring

to see

if I can catch

their beautiful babies.....

Oops.

I might've scared them away

with all

that baby talk...

Didn't mean to pressure them.

Ok.

Who am I kidding?

Yes, I did:

Let's leave them alone for a while...

They need some privacy.

After all, how ELSE am I gonna get

to

SEVEN swans a swimming????

Wild Swans!

When taking our usual ride out in the woods to see what we could find,

we found a

beautiful

beaver pond.

It had a huge beaver house in the middle....

and

looking out at the beaver house,

I was surprised

to see

four

large...

SWANS!!!!

Mostly they just slept.

They were quite far from us, at the other side of the pond,

but I did my best

to use my zoom to get them the best I could.

Here are three of them...two sleeping and one wondering what the noise was:

I was trying to be as quiet as possible, so they wouldn't get scared and either

swim away or fly off.

It must have worked, because she tucked her head back in for another nap:

I loved the big piece of "driftwood" looking wood behind them too:

The fourth swan was sitting across from them...also having sweet dreams:

I wonder what swans dream about?:

A shot of all four swans and the huge beaver house behind them:

They never woke up the whole time I snapped pictures of them....

we quietly left, leaving them to their slumbers:

We saw them one more trip out...and then yesterday when we checked to see if they were there?

They were nowhere to be found....

Spring Swans....

On a trip down to the southern part of the U.P., we went by Lake Michigan again.

Right outside of Escanaba, Michigan

on  a the only little patch

of open water.....

I

saw

THIS!:

Two lovely tundra swans swimming about!

It is very early up here for sightings of swans!  They usually don't migrate up this far north until April, but this has been a warmer-than-usual March...(I am writing this on March 27th and prepublished this post):

So beautifully graceful!:

(Of course, I made my husband turn around on a busy four-lane highway so I could jump out of the car to capture them!)

But just LOOK at him/her:

Wouldn't YOU jump out of a car to see them up closer?

And not ONE beauty, but TWO!!:

It MADE MY DAY!:

Like a dream...

I hope, like me....

looking at them

made you

calmer...

  quieter...........

and

even more thankful

for

Nature's gifts.

********************************************************************************
Have you entered my FREE PHOTO CONTEST for April yet?
You don't have to be a Blogger to enter!

Just look up the RULES  HERE.

This month's theme is:
RAIN, FOG, MIST or DARK SKIES
Enter by midnight, April 30, 2010!!