12 October 2023 - Hollingworth Lake

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10 Whooper Swans

This morning was calm, clear and rather cool, with a bright sun very low in the sky.  Just as I was dropped off by Joanne at the Wine Press, I noticed what looked to be a party of swans directly opposite, around Queen's Bay; about as far away as they could be from my position!  A quick scan through the zoom function on the camera revealed them to be Whooper Swans.  They looked to be quite close to the shore on the opposite side, so after taking a couple of quick record shots, I hot-footed it round to the opposite side. Fortunately they were still present and allowed some decent shots and video to be taken in the sunlight, though it's always difficult to correctly expose white birds on a darker background in the sun.  

There was no wind, and from time to time I could hear them 'whooping' but eventually I had to get moving and return home for work.

 

Whooper Swans, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, 363 mm, ISO 100 (view full size image)

Whooper Swans , 1/640 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 100 (view full size image)