I tried really hard, but I just can’t go that long without a bird post. At least I gave you a little bit of a break, but as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, we are once again featuring a feathered friend .. wait, let me put a little more emphasis on that .. featuring a NEW bird to the blog.
To be honest, I kind of held back on this one during Project Checkov. I had plenty of ‘S’s for that particular post, but I did wimp out and use the Mallard for the ‘M’ entry when in fact I had this water bird available. Wait a minute, I might not have mentioned the whole basis for Project Chekov. I think I at least hinted that there was a theme in a previous post but maybe didn’t state it for those that didn’t figure it out. Each entry of that post started with a different letter in alphabetical order. That element made the effort extremely difficult requiring a number of days to lay out that series with the photographs that were in the backlog. If you didn’t catch that you may have underestimated just how hard that project was. Oh and of course the name was a play on the fact I was trying to complete a bunch of CHECK OFFs on my bird list. There isn’t a real check mark until a picture is taken and it shows up on this blog. There was one and only one reason I didn’t go with this bird over the Mallard and that is due to the end of this title – there were too many shots I wanted to feature and why this post is really spread out over two parts. Rather than get ahead of myself, let’s focus on the aspects of this set of Mute Swans!
All of these pictures were taken down at Banner Marsh in Banner Illinois over different visits to the marsh. Every time we head down there, we are greeted by at least one Mute Swan hanging out among the weeds or enjoying a slow paddle on the water. I never really thought much of it while taking the shots, but this particular Swan has a pretty narrow distribution in North America predominantly around the Great Lakes region. They are primarily a European and Asian Swan but introduced into North America in the late 19th century. Some consider the Mute Swan an invasive bird due to their disruption to the natural waterfowl population.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of these rather large birds.
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We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you this public service announcement. “If you are going to risk your life on a motorcycle (especially in the Peoria County area), please at least wear a helmet at a minimum and definitely consider protective clothing!!!” I’m probably not the model template for safety awareness, but some things seem too logical not to do. Take for example when snowboarding. I swallowed my pride long ago and always wear a helmet and wrist guards. Why? Because I know what happens when you don’t both firsthand and through the powers of observation. I don’t ride a motorcycle so I do not have firsthand knowledge of what happens if you don’t bother to don the dome but thanks to an event this morning I can attest through the powers of observation that they do indeed save lives. This morning’s event will be with Linda and I for a very very long time.
