Trumpeter

When I photographed the Muscovy Duck featured a week or so ago I had actually stopped at this part of Esquimalt Lagoon to photograph one of my favourite residents there, a Trumpeter Swan. He's been living there for at least several years now and seems quite content to mingle with the seagulls and Mute Swans. The latter are an introduced species that have naturalized themselves at Esquimalt Lagoon but the Trumpeter is a native North American bird, our largest.

Trumpeter Swan

A beautiful warm, sunny day yesterday so I decided to go out to Esquimalt Lagoon again. I was lucky to find the resident Trumpeter Swan on the shore preening himself (or herself). That's the Trumpeter pictured above. To the left I've posted the photo of the Mute Swan I published a few days ago so that you can see the most distinguishing physical difference - the shape and color of the beak. They're both beautiful birds but unlike the Mute Swan the Trumpeter is a native North American bird. It is also slightly larger than the Mute Swan, a European species. In fact, the Trumpeter Swan is the "largest extant waterfowl on earth" according to Wikipedia.

Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)

Whenever I am out at Esquimalt Lagoon I always look for this lone Trumpeter Swan who has taken up residence there. Trumpeter Swans are the heaviest native birds in North America and this one is large - and fast. He was paddling along the shoreline so rapidly I nearly had to run to keep up with him. You can also gauge his speed by the bow wave in front of him. Below is a rather large panorama of Esquimalt Lagoon, where today's and yesterday's bird photos were taken. If you click it you will see a larger version. Click it again and it will blow up even larger and you can scroll back and forth to see the lagoon. It's a lovely, peaceful spot.

Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)

While out at Esquimalt Lagoon the other day I noticed an impressively big swan among the other swans and ducks along the shoreline of the lagoon. It wasn't until I got home and had a good look at the photos I'd taken that I realized that this bird was not just bigger but was different in other ways from the Mute Swans that are usually seen around the lagoon. The bird above is a Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator), the largest native North American bird. It's only slightly larger than the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) but the latter is an introduced species that has escaped captivity and naturalized itself. I've included a photo of a Mute Swan on the left to show the differences in bill color and shape.