If you travel to the Buffalo National River in the Boxley Valley area near Ponca you will see the Old Mill Pond. This is where you will be able to see the Trumpeter Swans.
I don’t take many photos of them because of the large tags around the Swans neck as you can see in the last photo.
A Photo I took back in 2009 of a Trumpeter Swan at this same location: Trumpeter Swan At Boxley Valley
Be sure to see the Arkansas Elk photos I have been posting the past couple of days:
Great Time For Elk Watching Here In Arkansas
Elk Watching Here In Arkansas, Part 2
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Very nice Steve! Great light on the close-up portraits.
Lovely portraits Steve!
Sooooo beautiful, they look so serene but I know better. My sister had them on the pond behind her house, she fed them for years but upon occasion one would chase her back to the house. One time she tripped and fell and he got her back and pecked her until she could finally knock him off and get up, he pecked at her lelgs all the way to the door. She still loved her swans but was more cautious after that.
Beautiful close-up shots!
Steve, Are the tags for tracking purposes? I would think they might irritate the skin by holding moisture in that area. I have been told I think too much tho! LOL DH and I went to Heber Springs last year to see them. We saw lots of young ones; there were no tags at that time. Beautiful close ups!
I’m sure they are for tracking and they also have several on each leg. For a photographer they suck.
The detail blows me away. Like crystal jewelry in her (?) wet feathers in the super closeup.
Steve,
The green tagged swans were released by the Iowa DNR in 08, 09, and 10 near Boxley and Holla Bend NWR. The were released in efforts to restore the swans to Arkansas. They can be reported from this site: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Education/IowasWildlife/TrumpeterSwanReporting.aspx.
Thanks for the info Bridget!
We just had some Trumpeters down in south Phoenix. Marvelous animals. I only wish their were saxophone and french horn swans too so we could have a brass ensemble.
Excellent photos–they look like they’ve been eating honey.
Beautiful close-ups of the Swans…the b/g colors really set them off!
I can see how the tags take away from the wildness…too bad…it looks like it’s too tight.