One Morning With Tundra Swans /  by Todd Henson

Four tundra swans far from the tundra

I mentioned in a previous post how my father and I stumbled across tundra swans late last year while hiking in Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. We only really took notice of them because of the very loud sounds they were making, sounds that we weren’t used to hearing in the area. We learned the birds making them were tundra swans and that they regularly overwinter in the area. That lit a fire in me to photograph them and after several failed starts we managed to find them again on January 7th, and this time I had a long lens with me. They were still at a bit of a distance, so you won’t find any great closeups in this collection of photos. But I was pleased with the variety I was able to create and of the different behaviors we observed. Of course, I’d love to get better views of them and my father and I have been looking around other locations where we’ve heard folks have seen them or where we think they might be seen, but time will tell whether we get any better opportunities.

Flight of the tundra swans

There are two sub-species of tundra swans: Bewick’s swans and whistling swans. Those seen here are of the whistling swan variety. One indication of this is the area where we saw them, with Bewick’s swans generally found in Eurasia and whistling swans in North America. Another indication is the very small amount of yellow on the base of their bills near their eyes, almost invisible in many of these photos because of their distance from us. Bewick’s swans would typically have more yellow.

Goodby, tundra swans

These tundra swans seemed to cluster in smaller, more tight knit groups, perhaps families, sometimes two or three swans, sometimes five or six. In some cases we observed younger swans in the groups which have light grey plumage, especially around their head, instead of the bright white of the adults. Another interesting observation is how some of them have a reddish tint to the feathers of their head nearest their beaks. This is apparently indicative of a large amount of iron ions in the water. I don’t know if that’s the case in the waters where we viewed them or if it was the case with the waters where they migrated from, further north.

Tundra swans swimming upstream. Notice the two adolescents with grey plumage near their head.

Sometimes these tight knit groups would join others and create larger groupings of swans. In one case we watched as a new group flew into the area and landed near a second group. The two groups came together and when they did there was a huge commotion of loud vocalizations, flapping wings and water splashing everywhere. It was as if these were great friends who hadn’t seen each other in ages and were getting reacquainted.

Looking for a place to land

The get together

But, of course, there’s always one of those in every crowd, someone who just doesn’t get along, who has to show off their dominance. Thankfully, we were around to see this and watched as one tundra swan stretched out its neck and chased after another. Granted, it didn’t drive it far away, and eventually they all gathered together again, but not until both understood their place in the tundra swan hierarchy. And notice the two small ducks in the lower left trying to mind their own business.

There’s always one in every crowd

My favorite photographs were some I created earliest in the morning when a group of three tundra swans slowly swam upstream towards the rising sun. I was able to photograph them in silhouette, both as they passed a group of three ducks, and with just the swans. I love how sometimes a single swan will bend its neck just slightly. Very elegant. Look closely and you can see many ducks at a distance out on the Potomac River.

Passersby

A peaceful moment

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at our morning with tundra swans. Though I’d certainly like to see more and create better photographs of them, I’m also very happy we had this opportunity and that I was able to create these photos and show them to you. Tundra swans are a beautiful and fascinating species.

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Sunrise, Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, January 2023 /  by Todd Henson

Sunrise, Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, January 7, 2023

In mid to late-December, 2022, my father and I hiked trails at Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. It’s a location I don’t get to all that often and because of that we thought it would be a good place to revisit. While there we heard these extremely loud birds out in the marsh and wondered what they were. I only had my wide angle lens with me so the best I could do was capture some very distant images and record a little audio, which was enough to later identify the birds as tundra swans, a species that winters over in this area each year.

There was a time when the only lens I brought with me was my longest lens and wildlife was, by far, my most common subject, with birds being what I most sought out. Since then I’ve branched out and now I seek out many more subjects, but I’m still very drawn to birds and other wildlife. So finding these tundra swans and learning they overwinter here lit a fire in me to photograph them. So on New Year’s Day, 2023, my father and I returned to the refuge with my big lens (and my wide angle, just in case). As luck would have it, it was a very foggy morning so any birds we saw out in the marsh were just silhouettes in the fog. It also happened to be low tide and the swans seem to prefer slightly deeper water, meaning they were much further away than they’d been in December. We could hear them but not see them.

I checked the tide charts and found that January 7th would have a high tide at the marsh right around the 7-8 am time period, so we planned to give it another try. And luck was with us. We did get the chance to watch a small number of tundra swans out in the marsh as they woke up, stretched, and started their day. They were still at a distance but with my long lens I was able to create some decent images of them.

But wait a minute, you might say. There’s not a single tundra swan in the photograph I’m presenting today. What does any of this have to do with the story behind this image? Well, the story is that I never expected to create this image. I was focused on the tundra swans. But thankfully I also brought my wide angle lens and we just happened to arrive at the observation platform not long after sunrise. So I brought up my camera with the wide angle lens and quickly created a series of handheld images of sunrise over the Great Marsh. The river you see in the background is the Potomac River. And the land in the distance on the other side of the Potomac River is Maryland.

So the lesson of the day is one I’ve relearned many times. Always be open to the unexpected. Even if you go out with a single goal in mind, be open to the possibilities nature presents you. You just never know what you’ll find, though with time you learn some of those possibilities and can prepare for them.

And about those tundra swans, I do hope to share some photos of them with you in the not too distant future. Nothing spectacular, but a nice collection of photos I’m happy with that represent some of the behaviors we observed.

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Though the Way Forward Be Foggy /  by Todd Henson

What’s around that bend?

My father and I planned to go on an end-of-the-year hike on December 31st, but when we awoke we found the world engulfed in fog. We could have simply given up on our plans and gone back to bed. After all, I certainly enjoy a little extra time for sleep. But instead we chose to head out and explore some local trails.

Deeper into the foggy woods

Walking into the unknown

Though the way forward be foggy

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