Swan Family

Yesterday I had to make a trip to the twin cities to pick up some prints that I've had on display at the DNR offices in St. Paul for the last 3 months.  I really didn't have anything to do for the day other than pick up the prints, so I had some flexibility with my time.  On the way down I noticed the sign for the exit to Grantsburg, Wisconsin and thought to myself "Hmmmmm.... I could make a little side trip to Crex Meadows on the way home!"  Once that thought was in my head, I couldn't resist.  I went to St. Paul, picked up my prints and turned around to head back north.  When I again got to the sign for Grantsburg, I turned east.  

I arrived at Crex Meadows about 1:00 in the afternoon and spent the next 4 hours there.  It ended up being a great way to spend my afternoon as I had several nice wildlife encounters and came away with a lot of good photographs of those encounters.  The first highlight for me was seeing all the families of Swans.  I've been to Crex Meadows a few times before but never when there were baby swans around (or "cygnets" as they are called).  I saw half a dozen family units of Swans with numbers of young ranging from two to eight individuals.  Several of them were right close to the roadways of the refuge so I was able to get some really close shots.  My favorite encounter was the adult pair that had eight young cygnets.  They were 20 feet from the road and the adults were bathing when I came upon them.  They were both half-diving under water and splashing water on themselves, sometimes rolling almost completely over to do so.  There was a beaver lodge nearby and after bathing they walked up onto the side of the lodge and spent the next half-hour drying and preening themselves. During this time the little ones also climbed up onto the lodge and took a little nap.  It was great fun watching these beautiful birds and a delightful surprise to my afternoon!