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On the Road: Trumpeter swans heralding spring

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They were big and white and stood out brightly against the browns of the fields. There were maybe a dozen of them in the first bunch, closer to 20 in the second. They were trumpeter swans and I was so happy to see them.

On the Road: Trumpeter swans heralding spring Back to video

My pal Mike — yeah, I know, same name — had told me a friend of his had seen a big bunch of swans just east of High River the day before. He had gone out for a look and seen that yes, there were swans out in the fields. So I figured I’d go have a look, too.

And like I said, they weren’t too hard to find.

Trumpeter swans are pretty much the biggest flying birds in North America. They dwarf most other birds, even birds like Canada geese, let alone mallards and other ducks. The only birds that come close to their size are their cousins, tundra swans, and pelicans. Whooping cranes are pretty big, too, taller than trumpeters but they don’t weigh nearly as much.

If you are looking for signs of spring, the return of the swans is the first true one. They had left here late last fall and headed south toward the Gulf of Mexico or west toward the Pacific to spend the winter and they’ve been gone since then. Except for a few hardy swan families that spend the entire year on the Bow River both in the city and upstream near Exshaw, their return absolutely heralds a change in the season.

And those big white bodies make them very easy to see.

The ones I spotted first were in a pea field, mostly relaxing, some picking at the leftover roots. Mid-morning sun was shining on their bright feathers as well as the snowy peaks on the horizon behind them. Wind ruffled their feathers as I texted Mike to let him know I had found a few of them and then, after shooting a few pictures, kept heading eastward to see if I could find some more.

Trumpeter swans have close family connections so as I drove along I found individual groupings of moms, dads and last year’s cygnets in the fields. The young ones still hadn’t fully shed their grey baby feathers but they were easily as big as their parents. A little further east I found the second, bigger flock, also in a pea field.

They really seem to like the roots left behind after last fall’s harvest and this second bunch was really going to town on them. Must be a lot of good nutrients left behind.

Mike joined me by this flock and then led me to a few other places where he had seen them the day before. It wasn’t long until the couple of dozen that I had spotted multiplied to well over a hundred big white birds.

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It was fantastic to see them but Mike had also seen quite a few eagles in the area so he led me to some spots where he figured they might be.

Several bald eagles and a few golden eagles, like the swans, spend the entire year in southern Alberta but come March, their migratory counterparts start showing up as they make their way back north again. Their arrival seems to coincide with the reemergence of the Richardson’s ground squirrels — gophers — and calving season on the ranches. Both offer a wealth of things to feed on as they await the springtime thaw to expand northward.

So it wasn’t very long before we spotted a pair of eagles in a dead tree by the Little Bow River.

They were sitting close together on the same branch with the wind blasting their feathers around, seeming to enjoy the sun and ignoring our scrutiny when suddenly, with a loud eagle screech, one of them rose off the branch and landed on the back of the other.

A fight breaking out? Umm, no. Despite the screeching and flapping of wings, it was a much, let’s just say, friendlier encounter. Pretty sure I can say that come summertime, there will be some cute little eaglets somewhere along the Little Bow.

Mike showed me a few other places further west and there were more eagles out that way. No swans, though. We were in ranch country now, not a pea field in sight. Finally, we parted company — thanks, Mike! — and I continued on my way.

I decided I’d head down to Pine Coulee Reservoir to see what was around. There’s always open water by the bridge that bisects the reservoir so I wondered if there might be swans hanging out there. But that was to the south and east from where I was so I started heading toward the Porcupine Hills. Might as well take the scenic route.

Not much snow out that way, mostly just the remnants of the last two storms. Bare pastures and stubble fields were shining in shades of yellow and bronze. The blue heron nesting colony along Mosquito Creek stood ready for the herons’ arrival. End of the month, likely. Gotta wait until the ice is mostly gone from the creek so the birds can hunt.

Over in nearby Williams Coulee I found a mule deer flicking her tongue for some reason and marvelled once again at the magnificent sandstone cliffs that line the south-facing side of the gorge. Such an interesting place, like some giant had swung an axe at this arm of the Porcupine Hills and left a huge gash in the ground.

There was more open water at Pine Coulee than I had expected. And there were birds.

There were swans, though not very many, and the ubiquitous Canada geese. But there were ducks, too, and they made me just as happy as the swans did.

The water was pretty choppy from the 70-km/h wind gusts, so the ducks hung pretty close to the ice shelf. Through my long lens I could pick out pintails, wigeons, mallards, redheads, and a few goldeneyes.

Mallards, goldeneyes and a few redheads hang out all winter on the Bow River in the city but the pintails and wigeons are all freshly back from the south. In fact, I think I even spotted a Eurasian wigeon. Who knows where that guy came from. All of them looked fresh and healthy and brightly feathered.

I watched them for a while from the viewpoint by the bridge, the swans preening, the various small groups of geese setting their wings for a landing, when suddenly, most of the ducks took off. I grabbed pictures as they flew and then, glancing up the lake, I saw why.

A bald eagle was flying low over the ice hoping, I assume, it could find an unwary duck to pick off. And then, coming in from behind, a golden eagle looking to do the same thing. The swans and geese were a bit big even for the eagles but the ducks were doable.

No luck this time, though.

The ducks circled and then flew back as the eagles moved on, the redheads coming down with wings flapping against the wind while the pintails zoomed in like fighter jets. The goldeneyes hadn’t left. They just sat low in the water and dove as the eagles flew by. The swans mostly slept through it all.

I kept rolling south now, keeping my eye out for more eagles. I found two along Willow Creek west of Claresholm, one of which gave me a nice fly-by. There were geese there, too, making plenty of noise as they sat on the banks or waddled on the creek’s ice.

And there were more swans, too, a pretty big bunch of them way out in, I’m pretty sure, a pea field. They were way too far for photos but I could see their bright bodies shimmering in the heat haze.

Time to start swinging back now. I figured the High River swans would still be out in the fields so I thought I’d try for some nice afternoon light. I found a few more eagles along the way and saw flocks of ducks winging overhead. By a feedlot there was a flock of starlings poking around in a pasture so I stopped for a few pictures of them. A lot of starlings move south for the winter but quite a few hang around places where the pickings are easy, too. I’m going to assume these guys had just come from the south.

The day had gotten quite balmy, a lovely 14 C as I passed by Stavely. But there was a dark band of cloud on the northern horizon and just after Nanton, the temperature began to drop. At Nanton, 10 C. A few kilometres north at Cayley, 0 C. And by the pea field with the swans, -4 C and light snow swirling around.

If the swans had noticed the temperature drop, they sure didn’t show it. Like they had been doing all those hours before, they were digging for roots, preening and relaxing. Some were even sleeping.

But of course, they’ve been through this before. Swans live a long time and I’m pretty certain they’ve experienced March in southern Alberta before.

But they also know, instinctively, the weather will get better and better.

Because now that they are here, spring is definitely on the way.

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