Twenty-five Tundra Swans in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Two days ago two Tundra Swans were reported at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on eBird and that has made me feel excited. Cold weather fronts are happening more frequently now and that means more Tundra Swans will be following them. Soon I will see these large, white birds flying over the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake in large numbers.
The swans in the image above were photographed at Farmington Bay WMA in 2019.
Adult and immature Tundra Swan fly by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/5000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I will also hear them calling from the marshes as they wake up and take flight to head out to feed and as they fly overhead.
Last winter I wasn’t able to take many photos of the Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because the phragmites mitigation that has been occurring over the past couple of years seemed to alter where the swans bedded down for the night. I hope that this year will be different and that I will be able to take high quality, frame-filling images of them again.
In 2018 on my birthday I treated myself to a cold winter morning at the refuge that netted me hundreds of photos of the Tundra Swans lifting off from the marshes. The light was gorgeous and so were the swans. The photos above and below were taken on that day.
Tundra Swan adult flying over some phrags – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
The Tundra Swans show up in northern Utah in the fall and will remain here until the water freezes over. Then the swans will head to where they can find open water and return here in late winter when the ice starts to break up.
I can barely wait to hear and see my first of season Tundra Swans and to see them on the wing over the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake. I wish that everyone could see and hear these swans in large numbers at least once in their life.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.
Nice images of the swans! I have seen them only once, and at a distance in a fallow field in Oregon many years ago.
When is your birthday( hope you’ll be old enough to vote)🥴
Hope you get another Tundra Swan birthday present! Thank you for such a wonderful recording of the calls too.
That looks like a spectacular birthday treat. Thank you for sharing the joy and the wonder.
Sight and sound must be goose bump exciting…happy for you…
What a wonderful experience that must be! Here’s hoping they offer you great opportunities this year.
Absolutely gorgeous, Miia
Your Tundra Swans show up about the same time as our Tundra Swans show up on the Niagara River. I’m looking forward to that.
Beautiful shots Mia!
Wish we had them here.