March 4 2016.Burlington, ON. With my head still spinning a little from thirty days spent eight time-zones east and forty-six warm degrees of latitude south of home; I’m still adjusting. Six inches of snow underfoot and temperatures thirty Celsius degrees colder don’t help.
Today I heard the first Tundra Swans of the season. Well heard is maybe not quite the right word. You know how it is when you’re somewhere and there’s all kinds of stuff going on around you: noise, distractions, traffic and people chattering, and somehow you hear someone say your name. It’s not that you hear it so much as become aware that you’ve been tagged, and, like nudging your computer mouse, some inner micro-processor wakes up, you look around and there really is someone trying to get your attention. That’s how I heard the Tundra Swans – a faint sound cut through the clutter and something inside me said, “Hey! That might be Tundra Swans – better look up, see if you can find them.” And there, quite high against a scruffy grey cloud, a small wind-tossed group of about twenty swans, flashing white as they struggle to make headway.
They were a little earlier than usual by my informal reckoning but by no means exceptionally early according to official record keepers. They’ve probably made a couple of days journey from the Atlantic coast, the start of a long trek, optimistically following the retreat of winter, to the Hudson Bay coastal lowlands. The earlier they arrive on their nesting ground the better their choice of nest site.
Tundra Swans were definitely Bird of the Day; they always captivate me but in truth they were probably the only birds I noticed today.
This photo was taken on St Patricks Day several years ago.