RHH's photos with the keyword: whistling

There are large flocks of swans feeding in the fields south of the town where we live. I was out today and took some photos of them both on the ground and in the air. It appeared that the flocks were a mix both of Tundra or Whistling Swans and Trumpeter Swans. I believe the swans in this shots are Trumpeters. As you can see, the sky is rather threatening and by the time I finished taking pictures a storm had moved in and it was beginning to rain. Trumpeter Swans were hunted for their feathers and were hunted nearly to extinction in the early 1900's but have made a comeback and are quite common now. These birds can live to be as old as 30 years and often mate for life. There is some great information on Trumpeter Swans at this address: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Trumpeter_Swan/lifehistory

This was taken on the grounds of the conference center in Pahang where we stayed while in Malaysia. The picture is slightly overexposed, but I liked the effect. The ducks are Lesser Whistling Ducks, Dendrocygna javanica. Thanks to Barbol for the id.