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Swan Lake Iris Gardens began in 1927 as a private fishing lake for wealthy businessman Hamilton Carr Bland, who also began landscaping his garden with Japanese Iris flowers. It is currently the only public park in the United States to have all eight species of swans; including Royal White Mutes, Black Necks, Coscorobas, Whoopers, Black Australians, Whistlers, Bewicks, and Trumpeters.
On this date, Karen Duquette was able to photograph 3 of these 8 species. There were not as many swans here in 2020 as there were in 2019 - check out the Flashback below. The photos from these two years are quite different. |
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Below: Swan Lake Iris Garden is actually located on both sides of a busy street, so it has a bridge for visitors to walk across. |
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Below: a metal sculpture and a water fountain. |
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Below: The Swans |
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Below: Royal White Mute Swans |
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Below: Signs about the Black Neck Swans. The two RV Gypsies did see them here, but they were off in the distance behind a fence and could not be photographed. That is okay because the two RV Gypsies have seen black swans elsewheres. |
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Below: Coscorobas Swans |
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Below: Black Australians |
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Whistlers |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies saw these 3 swans several times in different areas. |
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Recovery is a monumental work by renowned sculptor Grainger McKoy, and it has taken flight at Swan Lake Iris Gardens. The sculpture stands almost 18 feet high from ground level. The actual wing is 14-feet in height and weighs about 1,500 pounds. The sculpture is visible from nearly every point of the south side of the gardens. Following an entire year's work, it was unveiled to the public on May 1, 2010.
Note: Quotes about the Recovery Sculpture is from the brochure obtained at the gardens in 2019. |
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The stainless steel sculpture represents the wing of a pintail duck in flight. This is when it is least productive and most vulnerable, yet has the grace and beauty that exists nowhere else. The wing was inspired by an earlier sculpture, Pintails, and represents a step beyond the 6-ft Recovery Stroke that Mr. McKoy created in 2006. The Swan Lake Sculpture is more than twice the size of the one it was based upon. |
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Below: View from the bridge
crossing over the street and exiting the bridge. The flowers and scenery were much better in 2019, so the two RV Gypsies did not take pictures on this side of the bridge. To see the three (3) pages of the 2019 pictures, choose the link below. There is a link at the bottom of the third 2019 page to bring you back here. |
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