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Swans make Cranberry Lake in qathet home for now

Active trumpeters delight local photographers on Family Day
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SWAN LAKE: Photographers in qathet have been busy taking shots of trumpeter swans that have been active in Cranberry Lake the past few days. The photo of a resting swan above was taken by Jody Coomber Turner, who is a part of an online photography group.

According to Powell River Orphaned Wildlife Society (PROWLS): "Beginning in November every year, residents in the qathet region are treated to the sight of trumpeter swans arriving from their summer nesting grounds in the Arctic."

Photogenic trumpeters

For the past few days, folks who are a part of an online photography group have been busy photographing the young swans molting, preening, flapping and flying around the Cranberry Lake area.

Resident catches swan napping

Jody Coomber Turner said she took a photo of a trumpeter swan napping while she was at Lindsay Park, near Cranberry Lake, this morning, Monday, February 19, 2024; also Family Day in BC, and a rest day for many.

Turner took up photography a few years back after she bought a secondhand camera from a friend. She said she takes many of the photographs from her car and from her outside deck on the lake. 

Distance flyers

"When they [trumpeters] arrive, they have flown thousands of kilometres without stopping and are the heaviest flying birds in North America," according to PROWLS.

What folks are seeing now on Cranberry Lake are adolescent swans that only hatched three to four months prior to beginning their migration in November.

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