In January it would have been a pretty nice morning.

December, February, March even.

But after a summer-like high of 18 C just a few days before, walking out of the house into -7 C and knowing the temperature wasn’t likely to make it above freezing was kind of a jolt.

I was headed out to look for swans. These gigantic white birds are on their way south from their nesting grounds in the high Arctic and they usually show up here right around this time of year. They like shallow ponds in areas where grain fields abound and the country south and east of the city usually have plenty of places like that.

So with the heater blasting, I headed out of the city to have a look.

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The first stop was at a dugout near Mazeppa, just north of High River. No swans there but a decent bunch of mallards that flew off immediately and sped eastward. I followed them over the ridge to the next pond I wanted to check.

The last time I was out this way the water was right up to the road and there were plenty of ducks, geese and shorebirds. Today, though, the few puddles of water that remained were frozen over and not a bird in sight. Guess those ducks must have gone somewhere else.

At least the light was nice. The morning sun cast sharp-edged shadows across the harvested fields and backlit the pale mist that lay in the low areas. There was even a bit of frost on farmyard trees. Pretty but too soon, too soon.

Rolling south from the barren pond I headed toward Frank Lake, keeping my eyes on the horizon in hopes of seeing flocks of snow geese or ducks in the air. Frank is a major stop on their migration route so if there were any big white birds around, that would be a likely spot to find them.

Nothing in the air and nothing in the fields to the north. OK, it’s still pretty early so maybe they haven’t taken off for their morning meal yet. I........

© Calgary Herald