When approaching the water during winter in the wildlife preserves, I can usually hear the geese and swans well before I see them. The sounds of raucous honking and squabbling usually precede a large number taking flight all at once and creating quite a commotion. Swans issue a distinctive “flight call” before the flock takes off.
Now standing behind cover on the shoreline, I can see the swans in groups of a few to larger flocks. These are the Tundra Swans that arrive in the Chesapeake region typically by early December. They are the most common species of swans in our area and have migrated here from their breeding grounds in the wetlands of the arctic tundra, over 1600 miles away.
I like photographing these birds at daybreak as they glide on the water foraging for aquatic vegetation. Gracefully swimming in the morning light, their reflections follow on the water’s surface. Capturing them while landing and taking off is another matter. With their big, webbed feet sticking out in front, they remind me of clumsy sea planes coming in for landing. Sometimes not so graceful. Because of over development in many of the swans’ migration stopping points, it is now common to see them foraging in grain fields.
The Latin word for “swan” is cygnus, and baby swans are called cygnets. In Greek mythology, Zues once turned himself into a swan to seduce Leda who later “hatched” twin sons. For me the annual return of the Tundra Swans to the Chesapeake is a testimony to the resilience of the ancient migration patterns. Welcome back!
