Trumpeter Swans – Fall 2016
Trumpeter Swans return to winter in Yellowstone every year. Back in the 70’s they were fairly rare to see in the summer as they are now, but I do remember my ‘extra grandmother’ (my grandfather’s first cousin) being so excited to get a few photos of a pair that nested on the larger lake/thermal(?) pond at Mary Bay (on the other side of the road from Yellowstone Lake). She crawled on her stomach with camera in hand to get as close as she dared while we waited in the car.
She got a decent shot – and I’ll dig that slide out to scan in sometime. Ruthie always had her camera with her. And I can’t see Trumpeter Swans at Mary Bay without thinking of her.
Yesterday while having lunch and getting a bit of writing done over at Cody Coffee, three Trumpeter Swans flew over and landed on the far side of Alkali Lake. I made a note of it in my bullet journal and made a note to pull together some of the observations for this species from this fall.
So here are a few of the things noted:
The first ones I saw at Mary Bay was a pair of adults on 13 Oct 2016. From that point on, the number increased on each visit. Sometimes they weren’t quite in the same spot, but usually you could find them pretty easily. Saw more on the 23rd – a group of 7 Swans a’swimming kept photographers entertained for a bit.
Trumpeter Swans at Mary Bay 6 Nov 2016 from Janet Jones on Vimeo.
And last week (on 25 Nov 2016 specifically), I had a report come in of about 30 swans on the south arm of Buffalo Bill Reservoir.
Completely unscientific, but it sure seems like there are more of them this year. Nice to see.
On a slightly different note – we have no winter flock forming yet at the bird feeders here at the house in town. No chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, house sparrows or other smaller birds. We do have flickers and magpies, and an occasional Kestrel (which might be part of the reason?). Oh, and a pair or two of Eurasian collared doves. Guess it’s time to start asking around if any neighbors have birds at their feeders. And maybe need to set aside time to just watch the yard to see what exactly IS out there.