Bay Photos by Donna

.

I ended my last post that this next post would be those featured eight Tundra Swans about-facing on me and suddenly deciding to take flight.

It’s amazing to see this large bird literally lift its 13-20 pound body out of the water as it begins running on top to go airborne.  They need as much as 100 feet of water-running!

.

Tundra Swans taking flight

.

Up a little closer…..

.

The surrounding ducks are unaffected by the take-off.  Shouldn’t they be? Those swans need to be airborne before they cross that long raft of ducks!

.

.

The Tundra Swans wingspan reaches 5′ 6″ wide.

.

.

Those strong wing strides puts the swans on tippy-toes!

.

.

And then suddenly into lift-off.  Clearing those ducks, whew!

.

.

These couple photos, I cropped a little tighter on six of the swans.  The first two in the beginning photos were bewildered with the sudden take-off, so they lagged behind for a bit.

.

.

.

Following the cove, the swans turned slightly more my direction to clear the trees, with the last two joining the line.

.

.

.

Gaining altitude….

.

.

.

Up into the blue sky.

.

.

.

And they kept on going!

.

.

So you know, I was easy on ya with this photos series! 😁 A little side note on this shoot, I actually shot 43 photos total of this take-off. All while standing on the inside ledge of my opened car door, shooting from the top of my car roof, using a camera ‘pillow’ as a tripod. 😂 Can you see me doing this?!! 🤣  It’s my safe way to see over the marsh at this location! 😊

.

.