Field Notes:
Another 5-Mile Radius Post
Two evenings prior, the Trumpeter Swans were just distant white shapes at the far end of the lake. One atop an old beaver lodge while its mate stood watch nearby. They never wandered from that corner, and the Hooded Mergansers became the evening’s stars.
Last night started slowly. No sign of mergansers and the swans had not moved. I spent most of the evening marveling at clouds, glowing pink in fading light, drifting across the horizon. A snapping turtle crashing through vegetation briefly convinced me a black bear was approaching.
As evening faded, frogs and birds began their evening chorus. Perched nearby, a Common Yellowthroat emerged as the lead singer. And one of the swans left the beaver lodge.
Slowly, deliberately, it crossed the length of the lake heading directly towards me. It stopped at the shoreline just twenty feet from me. For nearly an hour, as light slowly faded, the swan moved silently through the emerging grasses.
In the final embers of nightfall, its mate called out with a single lonely honk from across the lake. The swan paused, looked up, and turned towards the nesting site. I had stayed longer than planned, reluctant to startle the swan and deeply grateful for the unexpected visitor.
Sitting in silence,
a moment greater than time -
Truth reveals itself
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