Nebraskaland Magazine
Today was a great day in the sandhills!! The day was windy and partly sunny but it made for a great day of viewing 14 trumpeter swans on a sandhills lake. I love the sandhills! There is so many cool places to see and take in. Anyone that can get away for a Sunday drive should consider a drive to the sandhills of Nebraska.
These 14 swans were simply beautiful to watch, they are a massive bird. It was with great pleasure that I was able to watch and photograph them most of the morning. I was able to see first hand how these great white birds act not only towards each other but with ducks and geese that landed in the same open-water area that they were all sharing. There were only a few tussles amongst the masses!
It was fun to watch the big birds tip-up as they foraged for submerged tubers and roots under the water. At times all you could see were big black feet and swan butts floating in the water. Kind-of made me chuckle.
There were also 5 swans on the Dismal river as I ventured around the sandhills. The swans are definitely in Nebraska right now. The sandhill lakes provide a quiet and secluded area for swans to find open water during the cold winter months; these spring-fed rivers typically do not completely freeze over even in cold temps, which is perfect for swans.
Sorry the video has a lot of wind blowing, but if you listen you can hear the swans calling to each other.
