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Reader photo: Trumpeter swans return to Turnbull wildlife refuge

A Trumpeter Swan floats in the water at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge on March, 10, 2018. A Trumpeter Swan family of six that lived at Turnbull last year returned in March. (Carlene Hardt / Courtesy)

A family of six trumpeter swans that lived at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge last year has returned, according to Carlene Hardt. Hardt photographed one of those swans, pictured here, on Saturday, March 10. The swan was feeding on underwater plants on Middle Pine Lake.

She said in an email that you can tell the swans had been “Feeding in iron-rich waters (which) stains the feathers of their heads a rusty-red color.”

Hardt is hopeful that the swan couple will build a nest again this year. Hardt said she has seen (and photographed) at least one of the swans since 2016. She can tell by three distinctive yellow spots on its bill.

She said she also saw a robin, which is a traditional harbinger of spring.

Web extra: Submit your own outdoors-related photographs for a chance to be published in our weekly print edition and browse our archive of past reader submissions online at spokesman.com/outdoors.