Trumpeters arrive in time for holidays

These trumpeter swans on Katy Allen Lake in Nevada are one of the sure signs of winter's return to Vernon County. Last year on Dec. 7, there were seven of them on the lake; this year, there are nine of them. Most likely a family group, the five, all white, adults and four gray juveniles spend much of the winter on various bodies of water in the county. The bird second from the right is a 6-year-old male swan that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was hatched in 2005 and banded with a bright red collar numbered 4K2 near Quimby, Iowa, in 2006. According to www.swansociety.org, the birds are family oriented, and usually mate for life; and the young ones, called cygnets, usually stay with their parents through their first winter. The trumpeter swan is the largest of all North American waterfowl and the largest swan in the world, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.