Lucas and I were sitting out on the back deck enjoying the arrival of dusk when we were treated to the trumpeting of approaching swans. They sounded low and close but we couldn’t see them for the cedar trees surrounding the back yard. A whole calliope of honking swans seemed to be right on top of us when suddenly they seemed to hush when they skimmed overhead. The wings all beating in unison and this strange sound of them slicing through the air. It sounded like the whirling of a bicycle race whizzing by your side and I sensed that slight tug of air. I couldn’t believe how close they flew and by the time the seventh or eighth flock flew directly overhead, it finally dawned on me to go grab a camera.

The pictures I took directly overhead seemed too blurry because of their closeness and speed so Lucas and I headed around the windbreak and took pictures of flocks off in the distance. They kept coming in sortie wave after wave… the sky was filled with giant “V’s” and honking. Jaclyn and Duncan came outside to enjoy the event too. We could see some cars back on the Fairview Line pull over and watch the hundreds of flocks pass overhead. Jaclyn joked that there must be Martha swans because every once in a while a swan would break formation, circle back around and squawk at the ones not doing it right. Ahh… just like home.