Whistler Swans on
Cottonwood Lake
Cindy Stewart
I live on a small, man-made lake in a rural Indiana community. The lake, and
my small neighborhood of 4 houses, is surrounded by corn fields. The lake is
private and is very rarely used. Occasionally my neighbor will take his fishing
boat out, catching and releasing blue gill, catfish, and trout. During the fall and
winter, the lake is populated by flocks of geese and mallard ducks.
Sneak
Peak!
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I fondly nicknamed the
mallard ducks “Kelly ducks.”
When I was a little girl, we
lived in a rural community in Colorado. When we would
drive the thirty minutes into town, we would always pass a
lake that had mallard ducks. Being a little girl, and in love
with animals, I named the ducks.
There was one mallard that seemed to stay on the lake
year-round. I named him “Kelly.” From then on, I’ve always
called this type of duck “Kelly ducks.”
A real life Kelly duck!
Photograph by Cindy Stewart
Over the past several years, a pair of swans has landed
on Cottonwood Lake in the spring. At first I was a bit
upset to see this pair of swans. When I first moved to
Cottonwood Lake there was a pair of mating swans with
their wings clipped that were permanent residents of the
lake. A previous home owner had purchased them and
kept them as pets on the lake. These swans turned out to
be very mean! They would attack fishing boats, and even
attacked a couple of grandchildren that were swimming in
the lake during the summer. After this attack, we found
professionals that would catch and relocate the swans.
Those swans now have a nice home somewhere else.
Thankfully, I realized that the swans that had landed on our lake were not there to stay. They enjoyed the spring
weather and then flew off. So, during their short stop-over, I enjoyed the beauty of these magnificent creatures.
This year, the swans have multiplied and have landed early! Six swans landed on our lake this January. Seeing
six of these birds up close is an absolute treat. There is clearly one male that is dominant. The other five seem to
follow his lead and stay in-line.
These particular swans are called “Whistler Swans.” When they swim, their necks stay straight up. This is quite
different from the more decorative “Mute Swans” that you often see depicted with the pair’s heads forming a
heart. Whistler Swans have a shorter body and neck, and have a yellow patch that connects the eyes to the
beak.
Being very excited about getting to see six swans on our lake, I grabbed the camera and took a ton of photos. I
had the fortune of catching a picture of one of the swans with its wings outstretched. The wingspan is amazing.
From what we can tell, the wing span is over 5 feet across! This scene was so inspiring, I just had to paint. Using
the photo I took as reference, I painted three of the swans, with one of them with out-stretched wings. I hope you
enjoy the step-by-step creation of this wonderful little painting.
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