While getting ready for the Easton Waterfowl Festival in Maryland on the weekend of Nov. 13 through 15th, I ran accross this image which I will be showing.
http://www.waterfowlfestival.org/
Tundra swans nest in the tundra or sheltered marshes on the Alaskan and Canadian coast near the Arctic Circle. The swans which migrate through here winter in flocks on shallow ponds, lakes and estuaries along the east coast near the Chesapeake Bay and in the marshes of Virginia and North Carolina. And you thought you had a bad commute?
http://www.swanmigration.org/
These birds were formally known as whistling swans because of the sounds their wings make in flight. The really do whistle. I can remember standing on the shore of the Chesapeake at a place called Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge and simply listening to them as they flew overhead. Majestic is not a term which does them justice. The are a large bird with a wing span approaching seven feet, and hence move alot of air when flying.
It always amazes me when the discussion of migratory critters come up. Whether it be swans, ducks, geese, caribou, or even butterflies. The distances are just incredible that some of natures best must travel each year.
The bird pictured here is a cignet or first year bird. I found him/her on Assateague Island in Virginia. The background of sunlit water cyrstals make the bird stand out, yet give it a soft touch. The long neck curvature is of course all swan and when the bird matures the feathers will be totally white.
We all see swans in local parks all around the country, but mostly they are not tundras, but rather "Mute swans". The mutes were introduced into this country from Europe and are differentiated from the tundras by their yellow bill. The bill of a tundra swan is black. The mute is also a bit of a problem to most of the habitat they share with the tundras. They both feed on bay grasses and winter wheat, but the mute eats the entire plant roots and all. Thus helping to deplete the grasses upon which they feed. The Tundra on the other hand will clip the grass off, thus allowing it to grow back.
http://www.waterfowlfestival.org/
Tundra swans nest in the tundra or sheltered marshes on the Alaskan and Canadian coast near the Arctic Circle. The swans which migrate through here winter in flocks on shallow ponds, lakes and estuaries along the east coast near the Chesapeake Bay and in the marshes of Virginia and North Carolina. And you thought you had a bad commute?
http://www.swanmigration.org/
These birds were formally known as whistling swans because of the sounds their wings make in flight. The really do whistle. I can remember standing on the shore of the Chesapeake at a place called Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge and simply listening to them as they flew overhead. Majestic is not a term which does them justice. The are a large bird with a wing span approaching seven feet, and hence move alot of air when flying.
It always amazes me when the discussion of migratory critters come up. Whether it be swans, ducks, geese, caribou, or even butterflies. The distances are just incredible that some of natures best must travel each year.
The bird pictured here is a cignet or first year bird. I found him/her on Assateague Island in Virginia. The background of sunlit water cyrstals make the bird stand out, yet give it a soft touch. The long neck curvature is of course all swan and when the bird matures the feathers will be totally white.
We all see swans in local parks all around the country, but mostly they are not tundras, but rather "Mute swans". The mutes were introduced into this country from Europe and are differentiated from the tundras by their yellow bill. The bill of a tundra swan is black. The mute is also a bit of a problem to most of the habitat they share with the tundras. They both feed on bay grasses and winter wheat, but the mute eats the entire plant roots and all. Thus helping to deplete the grasses upon which they feed. The Tundra on the other hand will clip the grass off, thus allowing it to grow back.
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