Every year about this time we look forward to the Tundra swans passing through the area on their way to northern breeding grounds for the summer. They started to arrive last week.
So on Monday we took a drive to our regular viewing area, on Greenway Road <Info and Map link>. While not yet at their peak, at least several hundred swans were in the area, resting up on their journey to the southwest.
The swans used to congregate right beside Greenway Road, close to the road. This was in a field planted with corn usually, and runoff and rain collected in a large pond beside the road. Last year and this year the pond did not happen, so the swans are further away. There is lots of water elsewhere in the area though, so maybe the drainage was improved for that field.
Most of the water in this picture is overflow from a creek on the left, kind of behind the trees:
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| Creek on the right, flooding on the left |
If you look carefully you can see swans spread out over these flooded fields:
A number of swans were visible from the north side of Greenway Road, opposite of where they used to hang out. I tried to get closer, with some success:
Then they got nervous and many took flight:
Here's short video of the mass takeoff:
Guess I looked pretty scary...
Some other spring birds were in the area too:
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| The first Robins we've seen this year |
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| A male Redwing Blackbird |
It was just a beautiful day to be out and about. On the way home we dropped by a view of Lake Huron near where we live. The visible ice pack varies with the winds, but ice is on the way out:
