Ya gotta luv nuclear power plants!

[Tapeman]

They are expecting about 900 Trumpeter swans in the water that that is heated & kept open by the plant in Monticello MN. (It probably dosen't hurt that one of the locals puts out 1000 pounds of feed per DAY!) These swans get to be up to 5 feet tall with an 8 foot wing span.Further south on The Mississippi in Red Wing MN. there are 100s of Bald Eagles around the open water from that plant. I hope to rent a 400 2.8L IS from a local pro camera shop, weather permitting, and go up there this weekend. (They get $100.00 a day for the lense: doesen't that sound reasonable?) There is an article in the Sunday Star Tribune newspaper about the swans. www.startribune.com.
I do not intend to open up the subject of nuclear power with this posting.

[Tapeman]

The link to newspaper article is www.startribune.com/stories/1610/4316497.html

[Yance]

I'm sure the Dept of Homeland Security is not going to want you around a nuclear power plant with a telephoto lens like that. Chances are that you will be stopped or harassed by security...Seriously.

[TeraGram93013]

I tried digging up info about the power plant, but since the Homeland Security Act or Patriot Act or whatthehell its called, such information is very hard to find these days.

Anyway, I poked around Mapquest.

It appears the power plant is about five miles up the river from the park that the swans are found at. I make this guess because on Mapquest there are some large geometrically-shaped water-filled objects about that far away from the park.

So, the OP probably has little to worry about in regards to paranoid security guards.

Now the swans? Heh. Don't get too close. The article talks about them being shy. Yeah, well... ask my mom to show you the 4 inch scar she's got on her upper thigh. Some 50 years ago, one *chased* her for quite a distance and further attacked her when she tripped. They might be shy to a point but they're also very aggressive when necessary.

[Tom W]

If the park is 5 miles away, or even 1 mile away, you need not worry. Now, if you're sneaking up through the woods with the big white, moving towards the plant (and especially in areas marked "no trespassing", you'll likely get questioned. You'd better have a CF card full of swans at that point.

I live about 6 miles from a nuke. In fact, our company's employee gym is located right by the plant (and there's a park area right by the gym). I even took a picture of the plant from the water last summer (it was too far for my 210 mm, and boat's movement didn't help much, so it was basically a useless picture). There is an area of water around the plant where one cannot pilot a boat.

[Tapeman]

If you don't want to fill out all the personal info questions asked by the Star Tribune's site on the direct link to the story, use the first site I listed & look under "Travel"

[dtrayers]

Hey Tapeman, who are you renting the lens from?

I live in the land of 100 lakes and 9900 ponds too.

[Tapeman]

dtrayers

West Photo in Minneapolis

[vvizard]

They are expecting about 900 Trumpeter swans in the water that that is heated & kept open by the plant in Monticello MN. (It probably dosen't hurt that one of the locals puts out 1000 pounds of feed per DAY!) These swans get to be up to 5 feet tall with an 8 foot wing span.Further south on The Mississippi in Red Wing MN. there are 100s of Bald Eagles around the open water from that plant. I hope to rent a 400 2.8L IS from a local pro camera shop, weather permitting, and go up there this weekend. (They get $100.00 a day for the lense: doesen't that sound reasonable?) There is an article in the Sunday Star Tribune newspaper about the swans. www.startribune.com.
I do not intend to open up the subject of nuclear power with this posting.

They're amazing animals. Although I'm spoiled. I live 30 meters off the shore of Norway's second largest Lake, and we got lot of Swans down here in the summer, and literally hundreds of them in the winter, when they (at least the smart ones) rally together down here for some weeks before they all head south to warmer countries during the Norwegian winter. But some stay. They usually have to be shot after their feet get stuck in the ice, while they sleep. So, maybe not as smart all of them, but undoubtly beautiful to look at :) I took some shots of them right after I bought my Sigma 70-200 f/2.8. Here's one of them. Technically this shot didn't turn out to well :/ But I really like it anyway, and hope I'll get the exposure right next time.

http://www.foto.no/bildekritikk/images/92796.jpg