Almost Wordless Wednesday - Winter Swans

Lately I've seen some local posts on Facebook saying that the "Russian swans are here".  We didn't see any of them last year (didn't really look), but have been sighting some large white birds in and around a nearby lake.  This past weekend, we decided to go out for a drive/hike.  We hadn't intended to look for swans but, we found some!

After taking these pictures, I did some research on them.  I believe they are Tundra Swans, more specifically: Bewick Swans, from eastern Russia.  They migrate to Mongolia, China, and Japan for the winter.  The pictures aren't the greatest, they were a ways out on the lake.  Pictures were taken at full zoom, without a tripod, on a stormy late afternoon - but I'll take them, seeing as I almost didn't take the camera that day.  I'd like to try and get better pictures of some of them this winter - actually plan an outing for it - we'll see.  

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing some eastern Russian swans, currently hanging out in northern Japan!