Cygnet Attack #2

This was taken at Robe Lake, Valdez, Alaska in the Spring while most of the lake was still frozen. The trumpeter swans that nest in Valdez all showed up at the lake because their various little nesting ponds were still frozen over. In many cases the 1 year old cygnets from last year followed their parents back to Valdez. This particular cygnet was extremely aggressive and was regularly attacking some of the adult swans! I caught a full sequence of this particularly vicious attack (46 frames) of which I picked out 12 that showed the sequence best. This is frame #2 of the selected frames.

Unfortunately, I was reacting very fast to get this shot. There was plenty of light so if I had known this type of action was going to happen I could have tightened up the aperture and gotten better focus on the fleeing swan.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Sony a6500, SEL200600G @ 430 mm, ISO-200, f/7.1, 1/3200, hand held.

@garyminish

Wonderful action, Gary. The slight softness of the fleeing swan doesn’t detract from the image significantly. I like this a lot.

Yes – same reaction here – wonderful capture and great educational material! IQ is top-notch, by my standards.