Family swim
Trumpeter swans
South Thompson River
Kamloops, B.C.
I'd been noticing this group of seven swans swimming together along the icy shoreline for a while. It struck me as odd because you don't usually see them swimming in a line like this except when they are babies and mom & dad are teaching them to swim. It was only when I zoomed in on them that I noticed the back five were juveniles (mottled grey feathers), probably about 10 months old.
When I got home I looked up the likelihood of them being a family group and found it's possible. Usually once the parents have taught the young everything they need to know, at about 8 - 10 months old, they drive them away. However if the swans are migratory, the adults keep parental ties a bit longer until after they have taught the youngsters about migration. I'm not sure when they leave Kamloops to go off to their nesting place but I think it's in about a month.
Family swim
Trumpeter swans
South Thompson River
Kamloops, B.C.
I'd been noticing this group of seven swans swimming together along the icy shoreline for a while. It struck me as odd because you don't usually see them swimming in a line like this except when they are babies and mom & dad are teaching them to swim. It was only when I zoomed in on them that I noticed the back five were juveniles (mottled grey feathers), probably about 10 months old.
When I got home I looked up the likelihood of them being a family group and found it's possible. Usually once the parents have taught the young everything they need to know, at about 8 - 10 months old, they drive them away. However if the swans are migratory, the adults keep parental ties a bit longer until after they have taught the youngsters about migration. I'm not sure when they leave Kamloops to go off to their nesting place but I think it's in about a month.