Feathered newcomers: Trumpeter swans hatch cygnets

Photographer Gretchen Haynes recently captured a delightful sight near Flying Cloud Drive: trumpeter swans with newly hatched cygnets in Eden Prairie.

Earlier this month, Haynes, who lives nearby, noticed some white dots in a marsh while driving near Lions Tap. Curious, she went back as a passenger in a car and decided it was likely a pair of trumpeter swans with a nest.

The following morning, Haynes returned with her camera and found two tiny cygnets swimming with one adult swan while the other remained on the nest.

“Cygnets generally start swimming to follow their parents and find food within 24 hours of hatching,” Haynes explained. “One of the adults was swimming with them and showing them how to find food. The other adult was still sitting on the nest, so there were likely more cygnets coming.”

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Haynes, who often sees wood ducks nesting in the area, said this is the first time she’s observed swans raising cygnets there. Using her 600 mm zoom lens, she managed to capture close-up photos, although she had to crop them for better detail.

On June 6, Haynes returned and found the swan nest submerged.

“The adult swans were swimming nearby, but it was too far to see cygnets without binoculars or my zoom lens,” Haynes said. “I went home, grabbed my camera, and went back down the hill to see if I could spot what was happening.”

After she did, Haynes spotted four cygnets.

“They are now more grey,” she observed. “Right after hatching, they appear slightly whiter until the feathers grey more. I do not know how many eggs were originally in the nest.”

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, trumpeter swans typically lay clutches of five to seven eggs, with an incubation period of 32 to 37 days. Haynes speculated that if there were any more eggs in the nest, they would not hatch due to the nest being submerged.