My mother understands my love of birds, and she therefore thought that the weekend which contained the fifteenth day of the month of December of 2018 would be a convenient time for the watching and photographing of various birds. After attempting and failing to locate birding hotspots which exist within a reasonable radius of her, we decided against visiting one to which we were strangers, and we instead chose to attend the Audubon Centre at Riverlands, at which we had previously appeared. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see a reasonably large crowd which consisted of birdwatchers and their chauffeurs, as this indicated to me that a reasonably large amount of people do indeed care for the birds, but, because I had been to this location twice before this visit occurred, I was rather curious about the causation of the great attendance to the location. When we entered the primary building of the Audubon Centre at Riverlands, I in a delayed fashion noticed a chalkboard which likely would have fallen onto the floor of the indoor area if I had not noticed its presence, and I then, after studying the chalkboard, gained awareness of the reason for the unusually great audience: people wished to see the trumpeter swans! Although I am not greatly interested in the trumpeter swan, or any swan in general, I discovered my ability to respect the appearance of the trumpeter swan, as well as those who specifically admire him; he is an exceptionally attractive member of Anatidae, a family which also includes the Canada goose.

After I photographed the white-crowned sparrows for the last time on that day, I entered my mother's car, and she drove to the location at which the Treehouse Wildlife Centre (http://treehousewildlifecenter.com) was intending to release a rehabilitated trumpeter swan, and both of us imagined that I could create a rather pleasant trophy if I were to witness this event in close proximity to the healed swan, so we appeared at the event, thinking that we must have arrived well before it began, for no indications of volunteers for the Treehouse Wildlife Centre were present, other than several safety-orange traffic cones. In an attempt to use this time for something productive, I walked to one side of the bridge which passed over an outgrowth of the Mississippi River and through my digital SLR camera's viewfinder peered at some groups of wild trumpeter swans, in which my mother appeared to be somewhat interested, as she vocalised her desiring of a photograph with which these swans were involved, but I refused to photograph them, as I could not suppose that I was in adequate proximity to photograph these birds. The volunteers and trumpeter swan eventually arrived, with the latter being kept in a carrier which was intended to hold dogs, and the watchers of the event were encouraged to follow the volunteers to a small marsh at which the swan would be released from captivity. This venture proved to be surprisingly enjoyable, even if the trail was rather unkempt; as we walked, we relieved various ducks of their ataraxia, an action to which they responded by in a rather appealing fashion flying away from the onlookers, an event which I shall -- if I again witness it -- attempt to record!
After the departure of these ducks, the volunteers began to slow their paces and rested the carrier of the swan atop some rocks and reeds, possibly because they would have been displeased to continue to carry the carrier, but primarily because the volunteers were to be shortly releasing the swan, and I, because I recognised this, readied my equipment. Rather peacefully, the volunteers unlocked the door of the swan's carrier and allowed him freedom, a gift for which he to some extent appeared to express gratitude, and began to run, not fly, across the small marsh. I recognised that moments such as this one are in comparison to others rare, so, when he was released, I promptly shot him.

I shot a rehabilitated trumpeter swan as he was being liberated from captivity.

As always, constructive criticism pertaining to this photograph, my writing, or any of my other photographs would be joyfully received by me, because I rather strongly wish to improve the quality of my photography. The sugar-coating of criticism directed at my creations, or even me as a person, is unnecessary, and it often simply causes the man who criticised my work to appear to have been uncertain about the legitimacy of the criticism which he gave to me. Although I attempt to extract everything which is beneficial for me from every situation in which I am involved, the lack of confidence which is displayed by those who vigorously attempt to remove any offensiveness from their criticisms leads to my suspicion of the lack of advice which would affect my creations positively. Please verbosely explain to me any flaws which are present in this photograph and were directly caused by me, e.g., clipping highlights or shadows, if they are noticed.