Trumpeter Swans in the Airlie Center Lake in Virginia

You deal with your normal routine in life and never know what the coming days will bring to you. I went to a meeting at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia in June 2012. One cloudy morning, it was unusually warm and muggy. Taking a break from the odd numbered RNA Polymerases, I was wandering along the roads in the rolling meadows of the conference center and unexpectedly discovered a breeding ground for the trumpeter swans by side of a remote lake hidden in the meadows of beautiful wild flowers. I did not know that they are there and the conference flyer never mentioned these swans. I was excitedly joyous to discover this lakeside beauty.

Panoramic views of the lakeside where I found the trumpeter swans.

The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest extant species of waterfowls. Adults usually measure 55–65 inches long, though large males can range up to 70-75 inches. The weight of adult birds is typically 15–30 lb, males weigh more than the females. The adult Trumpeter Swan is all white in plumage. 

Other major types of swans are the whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) and the mute swans (Cygnus olor). Whooper swans have upright postures and a straight neck at all times. Unlike the blak bills of the trumpeter swans, they have orange-yellow beaks. The mute swans are the heaviest flying birds. They are called mute because they do not honk. These large swans are wholly white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. They are also recognized by their pronounced knob atop their bills. I think the companion (Vahana) of the Hindu goddess of knowledge Saraswati is a mute swan. Several other species of swans are distributed all over the world. The very graceful black swan (Cygnus atratus) of Australia and the black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) of South America are the examples of other such swans.

The trumpeter swan has a large, wedge-shaped black bill that can, in some cases, be minimally lined with salmon-pink coloration around the mouth. The legs are gray-pink in color, though in some birds can appear yellowish gray to even black. The cygnets (baby and young swans) are grey in appearance, becoming white after the first year. Remember the ugly duckling story!

Close up views of some of the swans near the lake. The black beaked swans are the trumpeter swans. The orange beaked swan is a whooper swan, I guess.

Trumpeter swans feed while swimming, sometimes up-ending or dabbling to reach submerged food. The diet is almost entirely aquatic plants. In winter, they may also eat grasses and grains in fields. The young are fed on insects and small snails and crabs along with plants at first, changing to a vegetation-based diet over the first few months.

One very interesting fact I found about the trumpeter swans in web search. These birds often mate for life, and both parents will participate in raising the cygnets, but only the female will incubate the eggs. Most pair bonds are formed when swans are 4 to 7 years old, although some pairs do not form until they are nearly 20 years old. "Divorces" have been known between birds, in which case the mates will be serially monogamous, with different mates in differing breeding seasons. Occasionally, if his mate dies, a male Trumpeter Swan may not pair again for the rest of his life.

Let me walk you through how I discovered for myself the breeding place for the trumpeter swans in Virginia in early June of 2012. The photographs are all taken in and around the Airlie Conference Center. 

 

The vista of barren land with wild bush and flower around the Airlie Center campus. While I was taking the photograph I had no idea that a huge lake is hidden at the other side of the small hill. 

First view of part of the lake. I started wondering how to go close to the body of this water.

After a few minutes of walk along the road by the romantic wooden fence with my curious heart I found this entrance to the lake area. It was apparently welcoming me. No sign told me not to enter. So I entered.

The road was adorned with seas of pinkish-white wild flowers at both sides

Looking back to the entrance to the Airlie property, I did not see any sign that I am trespassing. There was no one around to ask and the silence was haunting.

The view of part of the lake.

Suddenly I heard some honking noise towards the direction of this narrow walkway.

The view of part of the lake.

Walking towards the honking sound I could not help but take more photographs of the wonderful solitary lake. The silvery light of the early morning sun was playing its magic on the gentle ripples of the lake water.

A feeling came that all these are for me and only for me. The happy little wild flowers were swinging their heads in the gentle breeze to greet me.

I was overwhelmed to decide whether I should first explore the wild flowers or the lake.

Soon I discovered the swans, basking by the side of the lake in the warm morning sun.

All of the swans I saw were tagged with neck bands. Later on I learned that although these are wild swans, they are tagged for the study of their migration pattern and life cycle.

I was approaching slowly towards them to get a better view. Some of them were glancing at me but apparently not caring about my presence.

I heard that swans are very aggressive and may come to bite me. So I was very careful and not going very close to them.

I was wondering what are the structures in the water. I learned later that those are parts of the habitat management scheme.

While many of the swans were napping and ignoring me, some of them were bothered by my presence and started moving a little bit.

I started using the zoom function of my camera to take some more close ups of these swans.

I found that the swans are not roosting only in one place; there are other colonies of the swans at other sites on the lake shore.

I became curious to find out other groups of swans.

I started wandering around the other parts of the lakeside. I was also very scared with the thought that snakes or other animals may be hiding in the bushes and may come and get me.

The vastness of the vegetation and wild flowers at the lake shore was really overwhelming.

Finally, I discovered another group of trumpeter swans.

They are also mostly taking a nap and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun.

I was getting attached to the solitary beauty of the lake and the endless ocean of awesome flowers around me.

I could not share this beauty with anyone but myself. I was trusting my camera to preserve this memory for me. The feeling was heavenly.

On the way back I was wading through the jungle of the wild flowers.

I started imagining that the little plants around me are holding my feet and asking me to stay for a little longer.

I was saddened by such an imaginary love. But I got to go back.

As no one was watching, I threw few flying kisses towards the singing flowers.

I asked the flowers to pose for my photographs.

And I had to depart.

It happens to me very often now-a-days. When I discover something heavenly beautiful and think that I'll be back again to see it, perhaps with someone I love and share, a sad feeling come to my mind like a dark cloud in the September sky. I started wailing silently that I will not, never again in this life, get a time to come back to this sea of joy. If you go to the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia and discover the trumpeter swans by the side of this solitary lake, please remember me and if the wild flowers silently ask you about me, tell them that I'll be back some other day.

AUTHOR: GAUTAM CHAUDHURI, PHD, NASHVILLE, TN, USA

EMAIL: GCHAUDHURI99@GMAIL.COM

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