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Picture of the day - January 18, 2009
A magnificent Trumpeter Swan
Photo courtesy of
Winston Rockwell.
Trumpeter swans are magnificent birds. They are quite large, and as
you can tell by today's picture they are also quite photogenic.
Master photographer Winston Rockwell captured this wonderful image,
and here is his story behind it:
"The weather has been atrocious in this part of the world for
most
of the past month, but today the sun came out, so I went to the
park near my house. I'd heard there were trumpeter swans there,
and
wanted to see them first hand, and try to capture some photos.
There
were a dozen or so swans in various places around the lake,
but they
were all some distance off. Using my telephoto lens, I was
able to
capture some photographs of several of these birds preening,
resting, and in flight.
Trumpeter swans are relatively rare visitors to the Puget Sound
area,
though they do frequent some of the river estuaries in the
northern
part of the state. Once hunted to near extinction in the
lower 48 for
their meat and feathers, these magnificent birds
survived in Alaska
and parts of Canada. Protected by federal law,
their numbers
rebounded, and today they are on the path to recovery.
Trumpeters are large birds, with full grown adults reaching six feet
in length with a wingspan of nine feet or more. Seeing these
majestic creatures in the wild is a rare treat, and I was thrilled
to be able to
capture photos of these beautiful birds.
This photograph was taken from a distance of approximately 100
yards, using a Canon 40D and Canon 100-400L lens at 400mm.
Camera
settings were 1/500 sec. @ f/13, ISO 400, in aperture
priority
mode." --Winston Rockwell
You'll find plenty more of Mr. Rockwell's gorgeous images on his
website at
www.NorthwestNaturalImagery.com.
Visitor Comments...
Name: Stephanie Biffle
Town: Detroit, MI
What a great picture of one of the world's most beautiful birds!
Name: Lawrence McCall
Town: Powhatan, VA
This is an exceptional picture, especially considering the long
distance between the camera and the swan. Very sharp and bright.
Nice job Mr. Rockwell.
Name: Gail Taylor
Town: Asheville, NC
Very pretty picture today. I love swans!
Name: Phyllis Helton
Town: Bristol, VA
Not an ugly duckling!!!
Name: Craig Tillman
Town: Louisville, KY
Excellent capture Mr. Rockwell. I sure do enjoy looking at your
photographs!
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