Today, I’m sharing a simple Tundra Swan portrait taken almost two years ago on a bright winter day at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
Tundra Swan portrait– Nikon D500, f11, 1/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I’ve searched for Tundra and Trumpeter Swans all winter in Arkansas and Oklahoma without finding any. They’re not as common here as they were in northern Utah.
One day, I thought I saw one fly over at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. When the possible swan landed in a cornfield, it was so far away and mixed in with Snow Geese that, with heat waves rising off the field, I just couldn’t be sure it was even a swan.
I’ve missed the calls of the swans I used to hear in Utah, but thankfully, the overwintering Snow Geese here have taken their place.
Listening to the calls of hundreds of Snow Geese flying overhead is an auditory delight.
By this time of year, both the swans in Utah and the Snow Geese here are starting to thin out as they follow their natural rhythms and begin their long journeys north to their breeding grounds. Spring is on the way, after all.
These big white waterfowl have always been a joy to me.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.
I was there yesterday and took an identical series of photos of the tundra swans. They miss you, Mia
Michael, next time you see them, please tell them hi from me.