Swan Song

Just another case of one thing leads to the next and everything just falling right into place starting with the reading of the current issue of Your Big Backyard to the boys over breakfast yesterday morning, which included a story from another boy somewhere in Montana about tagged and released Trumpeter Swans:

Which lead to an "A ha!" moment and my suggestion, "Why don't we hop in the car and drive down to where we've been seeing that big white bird on that lake along the highway lately and try to see if it's a swan."  Which we did and, from inside the car at a pullout on the highway, watched it glide from across the lake, kicking a bunch of ducks off this tiny little "island":

That's when we thought we could see a tag around it's neck just like the ones we saw in the article.  As the swan came closer, I got out and snuck in for a closer look.  I couldn't quite make out the number but with the camera could zoom in close enough. 

Just about now, I heard a clattering of wings and branches in the pine tree above me.  Looking up expecting to see a raven, instead I saw black AND white and realized it wasn't a raven at all but a bald eagle taking off and then flying away across the lake.  It all happened too quickly to get a picture of it.  I turned to the boys in the car, pointed crazily up at the eagle and then signalled back to them to quietly come down to where I was, which they did...sort of, not really all that quietly.  The swan continued to come closer.  A couple of pair of red-winged blackbirds were flying about in the cattails between the lake and us and when the swan approached them one of the males "had words" with the swan, telling it in no uncertain terms to back off.  I'm assuming there was a nest somewhere?

The swan (he? she?) then wandered off and went about its business:

All of this lead to these by E and R:

And this:

Encylopedias, guide books, The Ugly Duckling in a book of stories I had when I was little.  About a year ago my mom gave us a copy of E.B White's The Trumpet of the Swan.  We tried reading it at the time but it didn't really catch our attention then so back onto the shelf it went.  Well.  It certainly is captivating us now.  We're only a handful of chapters in but, already, reading this book has lead us to sites like this and this and today we reported our tagged bird siting here.  Gratuitous Trumpter Swan pic:

On the way back home from observing the swan yesterday, we also saw this:

Count 'em.  I think there are TWENTY ONE goslings there and only 5 adult geese in sight.  All right already.  Enough of the waterfowl for today but looky here.  The bluebirds are back.

Comments

[Wendy]

I love that magazine. We subscribe to it, also. How cool that you saw one of the tagged swans!

[barbara]

wow, we also just received that magazine...but Montana seems so far away from New England. Now, by the connection to your blog, we learn even more about these tagged swans. as a grandmother, i can just about wrap my head around the intimacy of our planet. thank you for sharing your big sky photos, too......i revisit them often.

[Holly Jo]

Swans are beautiful, but man, are they foul tempered (hmm, no pun intended). We love watching them in the pond too and comparing the rump sizes with the other waterfowl when they are eating. :) My kids are not near as refined as yours. :)

[Sue in MA]

Oh, I just LOVE when everything comes together so perfectfully and sets my children off on a grand learning adventure! It has been my experience, as well, that a book must be read at the *right* time to form a connection with us and make a lasting impression. Enjoy this special study with your boys--I'm sure they will always remember it.

[Jennifer]

What a great story! I love it when learning comes to life like that. Go Swan! Go!

[kt]

I took up the trumpet because of that book. Yay E.B. White! Enjoy, Montana family!

[Kristin]

Wow, what great flow! This is a perfect example of unschooling at its finest. Thanks for the fabulous bird photos!

[jean]

That is amazing!! A magical unschooling moment. Trumpet of the Swan is such a great story. EB White's writing is pure grace. If you haven't read it get a copy of One Man's Meat. It's The Curve of Time for Mainers.

[sue]

What a wonderful experience! Thank you SO much for sharing this and so many other amazing moments with us. You continue to be an incredible inspiration on so many levels- homeschooling and otherwise. Thanks for such a wonderful treasure of a blog!

[Julia]

So cool! =D

[Jodi]

That looks like one awesome day! What a fabulous way to learn.

[Viv]

So cool! We get that magazine too and just read that story the other day.

[Anla]

I just love swans. Before Katrina there was a park in new Orleans that had a bird sanctuary. When my brother was three He and I went and he came upon a black swan and kept following it, waving, and saying "Hey bird, hey, It's me Anthony." Sometimes I wonder what happened to those birds.