Tag Archives: tundra swan

A cold but rewarding day at the pond!

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On 29 November our area had its first really cold morning of the season, dawning at 25°F (-3.88°C). I fortunately had gotten my spring bulbs and seeds in the ground a few days earlier, so I was mostly ok with it except feeling bad for the outside critters having to deal with morning frost in the coming weeks.

There were still a few very hardy flowers blooming in the yard; a few were eaten by the deer, which was ok with me. However, the neighborhood honeybees had slim pickings, which may be why I suddenly found them swarming the nectar feeder which I’ve left in place in case a winter hummer shows up!

So before doing needed grocery shopping, I stopped at a local pond. The parking area near the path to the water is in an area usually filled with birds but scarcely any wildlife was to be seen. A song sparrow briefly popped up, but it was very quiet. Finally, I heard some pecking and there was a yellow-bellied sapsucker working on a new row of sap holes in a nearby tree.

 

Walking towards the pond, I crossed a bridge over the feeder creek. Usually, this area has numerous birds but not a sound or movement was present. When I started nearing the pond, I finally spotted mallard ducks — 16 as far as my count through the trees could tell.

A pair of geese was perched on a stump, and they seemed to be just chilling out, preening, paddling and resting.

Scarcely any other birds were around; a few sparrows popped up quickly and some turkey vultures were parked in area trees.

   

Finally, I noticed the great blue heron perched on the beaver lodge, not moving a muscle or feather. Its statue imitation was impressive. I began walking back and forth along the shore, hoping to spot wildlife but the cold even had the bugs laying low.

After a while, I figured it was cold enough to make the visit shorter than usual when I was stopped by the sight of a couple new dark lumps on the beaver lodge behind dried vegetation..

It turned out to be a couple of otters — a delightful sighting to be sure even if not clear as they were far away behind dried vegetation.

After waiting to see if the otters would leave their resting spot, I decided they had settled down for a lengthy nap. As I turned to leave, I suddenly saw movement and the two otters slipped into the water, with me turning and trying to get a few quick photos.

They swam quickly to the beaver dam, crossed and dropped down to the lower swamp on the other side.

I counted myself lucky to have seen them and was pleased with this unexpected encounter. I stared at the dam hoping for some movement, saw nothing and again began to leave when suddenly a head popped up again.

To my astonishment, not one, not two, but four otters came over the dam and swam over to the far shore behind the beaver lodge. They were going fast and I only got glimpses, but it was still so rewarding to see them.

They were underwater much of the time but finally popped into view at the edge of the pond vegetation behind the lodge.

They were obviously feeding on something, but it wasn’t possible to see what they were catching.

They moved along the shoreline, swimming together and alone.

The otters must have been having considerable feeding success because the heron left the beaver lodge and began following them along the shoreline.

I tried to follow along on the other side of the pond and caught glimpses of them until they disappeared into a vegetation-heavy area of the pond. The heron kept following them so they must have been good guides to where the foraging was rewarding.

It finally became time to really call an end to my pond visit, so I left along the path which was still almost wholly silent without bird song. Back near my car, the sapsucker was still busy in the same tree working on the same line of new sap holes. The woodpecker had obviously found itself a good feeding spot and I felt fortunate, too, to have had a surprise encounter with those beautiful sleek water mammals at the pond.

        

This sighting was indeed something to be thankful for the day after Thanksgiving. It followed my chance a few days earlier to see our county’s first tundra swan on record. A friend alerted me to its presence and many people went to our county’s water reservoir, where the bird was hanging out far across the lake. Some very cool sightings to mark a holiday week! 😊

(Apologies for the somewhat blurry photos but the wildlife was fairly distant and my camera lens is no longer working optimally. But I still wanted to share the good fortune of these wildlife sightings!)

Tundra swans, snow geese and Canada geese, too – beauty by the tens of thousands

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Tundra swans IMG_8442©Maria de Bruyn

When the tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) and snow geese (Chen caerulescens) leave the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundras and climes of northern North America to over-winter along the coasts of the United States, those of us who live further south get to enjoy the marvelous spectacle of tens of thousands of these birds gathering together. They appear in huge masses and smaller family groups to feed and then swirl through the skies in an aerial ballet as they settle down to feed again or spend the night in a marsh or on a lake or pond. Witnessing these enormous conglomerations of birds really is an unforgettable experience.

Tundra swans IMG_8440©Maria de BruynThe tundra swan – also known as the whistling swan in North America – is a large, graceful bird. Its diet is varied, ranging from aquatic plants and some molluscs (mostly during the summer) to seeds, grains and tubers like potatoes in the winter. In North Carolina, where they migrate during winter, you can find immense flocks foraging in open agricultural fields before they settle for the night (in winter, these birds sleep mostly on the water; during the breeding season, these monogamous birds sleep mainly on land).

tundra swan IMG_8676©Maria de Bruyn signed res

The adult swans are entirely white except for a black bill, while the immature birds are first a dusty gray color that eventually turns white; the young swans also have a pinkish bill.

Tundra swans IMG_6457©Maria de Bruyn signed res

During a birding trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, our Audubon group was privileged to witness the tundra swans returning to a lake in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge one night.

Tundra swans IMG_6446©Maria de Bruyn res

It was like watching a black wave moving back and forth across the orange sky at dusk, while being surrounded by a tremendous volume of honking (not whistling!). Afterwards, I and others regretted that we hadn’t thought to film this so we had a record of the sound. I think we were just so mesmerized that it didn’t occur to us to do that. Here you can hear what their calls are like. For us, it was impressive as we were listening to the sounds of a flock of about 20,000 strong! http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/tundra_swan/sounds

Tundra swans IMG_6439©Maria de Bruyn signed res

The snow goose, like the tundra swan, migrates in the winter to North Carolina from the uppermost parts of North America; like the swans, they forage in winter agricultural fields in large groups. There are two color variations: some are almost entirely white, while the “blue morph” variation has a white head but blue-gray body feathers. Our birding group was lucky to see another aerial ballet at Pocosin Lake National Wildlife Refuge put on by the snow geese.

Snow goose IMG_6334©Maria de Bruyn2 res

As a member of our group excitedly called, “They’re rising!” an enormous flock surged up from the lake, flew back and forth just a little and then settled.

Snow goose IMG_6330©Maria de Bruyn signed res

A minute later, they repeated the process and we watched as the swirling cloud rose and fell, just moving side to side a bit. They were very far across the lake from us, so it wasn’t possible to get great shots but at least I had evidence of the sighting!

Snow goose IMG_6341©Maria de Bruyn signed res

The other birds that we saw in some numbers were the more familiar Canadian geese (Branta canadensis). They are commonly seen in our area so it didn’t seem quite so special to spot them at the coast, but they passed by in flocks and beautiful formations that were well worth watching.

Canada goose IMG_5955©Maria de Bruyn signed resCanada goose IMG_6041©Maria de Bruyn res

Canada goose IMG_8306©Maria de Bruyn signed res 2These were the only geese that we were able to see up close a bit; here you see a pair at Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.

I had seen starling murmurations before and was quite impressed with those. Witnessing the gigantic flocks of tundra swans and snow geese was equally fascinating – if you get a chance to see such large groups, do stop to watch them!