A visit to Promised Land State Park a few weeks back, on an unusually cool summer morning, didn’t yield the morning light and sunrise images I had been anticipating. It did, however, bring me something unexpected – a swan floating just offshore from the Lower Lake boat launch.
Swans are in the area, but are not one of the more common waterfowl that I encounter. And if this is truly a Trumpeter swan – and I think it is – then it’s extra-uncommon, as that species range does not generally include this area, although the Cornell Bird Guide does state that their range has been expanding in the past years.
The swan didn’t seem to mind that I was there, and mostly ignored me, moving from dozing offshore to preening, and finally to swimming to the shoreline to feed.
It wasn’t until I was reviewing the photos on the computer that I realized this individual has a damaged beak, visible in the second photo, where you can clearly see the pink interior flesh of it’s mouth and a jagged section of missing beak. It is always heartbreaking to find injured wildlife, but in this case the swan seemed to be managing just fine and appeared otherwise healthy, and successful in its feeding as it cruised the lake.