Mute. Trumpeter and Tundra Swan Photography for Sale

T.R. Michels Photography

Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, Swans, Sunrise / Sunset, Scenic

Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Bison, Elk, Mule Deer, Coyote, Fox, Wildflowers, Scenic

Trinity Mountain Outdoors Photography

Ducks, Geese, Swans, Songbirds, Upland Game Birds, Wading Birds, Shorebirds, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Owls, Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Moose, Mountain Goat, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Coyote, Mountain Lion, Red & Gray Fox, Wolves, Wildflowers, Scenic, Sunrise / Sunset

Photo Gallery Index & Photo, Calendar and Post / Note Card Prices

We offer Natural History Eco-Tours & Photography Trips to several State and National Parks and other areas for Bighorn Sheep, Elk Mule Deer, Mountain Goat, Moose, Wild Turkey, White-tailed Deer; $200 per person per day; maximum of 4 persons.

Wildflower & Scenery Photography Tours; $20 per person for 1-3 hours; minimum of 2 persons.

For more information contact T.R. Michels at Trinity Mountain Outdoor Adventures.

Order a 2007 Calendar of these Photos

Photograph, Calendar, Note Card & Post Card Price List

To purchase photos contact T.R. Michels.

All photos are copyrighted, unless otherwise stated.

These are low-resolution Photos

Swans

Male swans are called cobs; females, pens; and young, cygnets. The clutch size varies from 2-8 rough-shelled, pale yellow creamy-white eggs, which hatch in about 35 days. The cygnets stay with the adults for about one year; at about 15 months they get their adult plumage. Swans mate for life, however, if one of a pair dies the other will find a new mate. They gather and pile up grass, sedges, and mosses to make nests, often within 100 yards of the Arctic coastline. The nests measure about 6 feet across and 12-18 inches high. During incubation the females care for the eggs by themselves while the males stand guard.

To achieve flight, swans face into the wind, run along the surface of the water for 15 to 20 feet, flap their wings and beat the water with their feet alternately until they gain sufficient headway to become airborne. They fly in v-shaped formations, and achieve speeds up to 100 miles per hour with tail winds. They have been sighted at elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet.

Swans begin nesting in mid-April, with nests as large as sex feet across, they often use muskrat or beaver hives as nesting platforms. They lay from 3 to 8 eggs, but have only a 30% hatching success ratio. Incubation lasts 33 days. Newly hatched swans, called cygnets, may gain 20% of their body weight each day; they are fully feathered by 7-8 weeks, but are unable to fly until 15 weeks, they begin daily practice flights in mid-September. Cygnets are gray-colored for their first year.

The young swans remain with their parents throughout the winter. They are usually chased away from the parents during their second winter, but may stay with their siblings up to two years, thus most of the small groups seen flying consist of a mated pair, and their young of the past two years. During their second year young swans choose a mate on the wintering grounds; they remain mated to until one of them dies. Young swans usually nest the first time between 3 and 6 years of age, on nests in remote areas, where they claim a territory of 3-6 acres; with a long expanse of open water, which they use to taxi before they take flight.

Swans are bottom feeders, using their long necks to search for plants and tubers to eat from the bottoms of ponds, lakes and rivers. Lead poisoning from shotgun shell pellets, illegal hunting, power lines, predators and loss of habitat are the main threats to trumpeter swans.