Geese, Swans, Pelicans, and Cormorants: Part II

On to the Swans. The only two swans in the Western US and Canada are the Trumpeter and Tundra. Very similar in plumage, the Tundra is the smaller and with a smaller neck. The Trumpeter breeds in Alaska while the Tundra breeds in Alaska and the northernmost parts of Canada.

Tundra Swan

Tundra Swan

Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan

Winter Wildlife Photos: Tundra Swan

Continuing my series on Winter Wildlife Photos we come to the Tundra Swan. The Tundra Swan is another water bird that winters in large numbers in the Northwest. Again Fir Island in Washington but also the Lower Klamath along the Oregon/California border. In this photo there is a thin layer of ice that the swans are standing in:

Animal Signs: Tundra Swans

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (along the Oregon/California border) is a wintering birding site for waterfowl. With such a nice menu, Bald Eagles also winter there:

Tundra Swans and Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles as "vultures" waiting for a nice Swan Dinner

Three Pairs

Of course, not all husbands and wives can be identified easy as male or female. Nonetheless, here are three pairs: Swans, Geese, Pelicans:

Tundra Swan

White Fronted Goose

White Pelican

National Wildlife Refuges

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, California, 1908

The Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, located in rural northeastern California and southern Oregon, was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 as the nation's first waterfowl refuge. The refuge, with a backdrop of 14,000-foot Mount Shasta to the southwest, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as both a National Historic Landmark and a National Natural Landmark.

The 50,092-acre refuge is a varied mix of intensively managed shallow marshes, open water, grassy uplands, and croplands that provide feeding, resting, nesting, and brood-rearing habitat for waterfowl and other water birds. This refuge is one of the most biologically productive refuges within the Pacific Flyway.

Approximately 80 percent of the flyway's migrating waterfowl pass through the Klamath Basin on both spring and fall migrations, with 50 percent using the refuge. Peak waterfowl populations can reach 1.8 million birds, which represent 15 to 45 percent of the total birds wintering in California. The refuge produces between 30,000 and 60,000 waterfowl annually.

The refuge is also a fall staging area for 20 to 30 percent of the central valley population of sandhill crane. From 20,000 to 100,000 shorebirds use refuge wetlands during the spring migration. Wintering wildlife populations include 500 bald eagle and 30,000 tundra swan. Spring and summer nesting wildlife include many colonial water birds, such as white-faced ibis, heron, egret, cormorant, grebe, white pelican, and gulls. 

I visited LKNWR many times during the mid to late nineties. It is one of the great wildlife refuges in the US. I'll show you a variety of photos that I have taken there.

Lower Klamath at Sunrise

Bald Eagle

Northern Pintail

Red Tailed Hawk along the auto tour and pointing the way to turn

Ross Geese with snow covered mountains in the background

Tundra Swan with Bald Eagle waiting for dinner

Lone Tundra Swan among the Canada Geese

White Fronted Geese with Ross Geese

Willet eating an insect it plucked off the shoreline

Plumage Changes - IV

Some plumage changes aren't as dramatic and as colorful. Take the Tundra Swan. Immature Tundra Swans are a light gray, it is not until their second winter molt that their plumage turns white as in the adult. They mate in early spring and breed in the Arctic and Subarctic tundra where they inhabit shallow pools, lakes, and rivers. They are monogamous birds (until one partner dies). They migrate south for the winter. In the photo below you see both adult and juvenile in their wintering ground of Western Washington. Apparently it was the juveniles first winter.

Adult Tundra Swan with Juvenile
Photo taken on Fir Island, Washington

Advent Calendar - December 27th

On both sides of the central Oregon/California Border are the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges which include Lower Klamath and Tule Lake NWR. Established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, Lower Klamath Refuge is our nation’s first waterfowl refuge. This 46,900 acre Refuge is a varied mix of shallow freshwater marshes, open water, grassy uplands, and croplands that are intensively managed to provide feeding, resting, nesting, and brood rearing habitat for waterfowl and other water birds. A marked ten mile auto tour (with photo blinds along the way)  gives visitors year round access to great wildlife viewing opportunities. Here wintering waterfowl come by the thousands, including these Tundra Swans:

Tundra Swans on Tule Lake, California

Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Since moving to Arizona in 2002, getting to some of my favorite places has been a little more problematic. When I can get away from the B&B for more than a few days (on a photo trip) I tend to head to Colorado or Wyoming. Of course there is the obligatory stop in Flagstaff to see our grandchildren -- well, their mom and dad too. But, I am usually in search of Mountain Goats or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on Mount Evans, or Moose in Northwestern Colorado, or Grizzlies and Wolves in Yellowstone.

So, some of my favorite watering holes have been neglected. One such favorite is Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge which is along the central Oregon/California border.

Winters there are the best time -- but, of course -- our busiest time and so impossible to get away. Hundreds of thousands of birds flock to the icy shallow lakes: ducks, geese, and swans en mass. Here are some photos:

Ross Geese

Tundra Swans and White Fronted Geese

Tundra Swans

 However, with all the birds come the predators! Bald Eagles are like the Mafia here, waiting for the right time to kill. For them "it's not personal, it's just business." Of course with all the Swans, Thanksgiving Day Feast comes every day for the Bald Eagle.

Tundra Swans with Bald Eagles in Background

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle Close-Up

Tundra Swans Flying

Lone Tundra Swan "hiding" among Canada Geese

Swans

The Trumpeter Swan, is the largest waterfowl in the world with a length of 64 inches and weight of 26 pounds.  They have white plumage with a long neck, a black bill subtly marked with salmon-pink along the mouthline, and usually has short usually dark legs. Natural populations of Trumpeter Swans are migratory spending their summers in Alaska, and wintering in small pockets of Washington, Montana, and the southernmost parts of Eastern British Columbia and Western Alberta.They feed while swimming, sometimes up-ending or dabbling to reach submerged food. The diet is almost entirely aquatic plants.

Trumpeter Swan

photo taken at Frenchman's Hill, Central Washington

Trumpeter Swan

photo taken on Fir Island, Washington

Tundra Swan (also called the Whistling Swan) weighs about 15 pounds, with a body length of 52 inches and wingspan of 66 inches, making it smaller than the Trumpeter Swan.  They are particularly vocal when foraging in flocks on their wintering grounds (similar to the Sandhill Cranes). As their common name implies, the Tundra Swan breeds in the Arctic and Subarctic Tundra. Like the Trumpeter Swan it too is migratory wintering on grassland/marshland. But unlike the rarer Trumpeter Swan, it winters throughout much of the Northern US and Canada. When migrating they fly in the typical "V" formation at altitudes of 27,000 feet.

Tundra Swan

photo taken at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Tundra Swan

photo taken at Portage Creek Wildlife Preserve, Washington

Winter at Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge

Since it is still winter in most places, I thought I would share a winter photo from Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge along the Oregon - California border. While not a great photo, it tells a story. The Lower Klamath gets over a hundred thousand water birds for the winter: ducks, geese, swans, etc. Most of these birds fly great distances to get there. The result, they are tired upon arrival -- and, easy pickin's. In the foreground are Tundra Swans, that literally come from the Northern Alaska tundra, a distance of some 3,000 miles. In the background is the "mafia," oops, sorry eight or so Bald Eagles.  That day I probably saw over 100 eagles. The Bald Eagles weren't there for their "winter migration." They were there for dinner. There was always a swan that was the slowest and/or the tiredest who became a meal for a half dozen Bald Eagles. If you get a chance the Lower Klamath is a wonderful winter birding spot. It's about 70 miles east of Ashland, Oregon (on Interstate 5). And, well worth the trip.