{"id":124934,"date":"2024-03-20T03:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=124934"},"modified":"2025-05-08T06:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T11:04:02","slug":"last-day-of-winter-tundra-swans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/20\/last-day-of-winter-tundra-swans\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Day Of Winter Tundra Swans"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> on the last day of winter, I decided to take a video of some of the Tundra Swans I found on the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/div><\/div>\n

In addition to the swans calling in this video, I can hear Pied-billed Grebes, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Coots, plus a few calls from other birds.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swan on the last day of winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the morning, I did find a few Tundra Swans that were a bit closer, and I took some images of them. While I wished that the swans had been a little closer, I was delighted to have them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Because we had such a warm winter, there wasn’t as much ice out on the marshes, and that meant the swans stayed way out on the ice shelves, or at least near them. Well away from the road.<\/p>\n

It was a very strange winter. While we may still get some snow before winter finally leaves, with our warmer than normal temperatures, it isn’t likely to stick around for very long.<\/p>\n

\"TundraTundra Swans – Bottoms Up \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On the last full day of winter, I saw a lot of swan bottoms as they tipped their heads into the water to feed. I mean a whole lot of swan bottoms. It seemed a bit humorous to me at the time because all we will soon see are their tail ends as they do head north to their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

I always miss the swans when they leave. This year I will miss them even more than normal.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Tundra Swan photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the last day of winter, I decided to take a video of some of the Tundra Swans I found on the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,158,26,5362],"tags":[4004,14821,4431,4094,4628,3122,2117,9076,2791,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-124934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","category-video","tag-adult","tag-bottoms","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-marsh","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-up","tag-video","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-last-day-of-winter-mia-mcpherson-0892.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-wv4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":80995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/11\/swan-day-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":124934,"position":0},"title":"Swan Day in Utah – March 13, 2021","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2021","format":"chat","excerpt":"This Saturday, March 13th, is Swan Day here in Utah. It is a day to celebrate these large, white, beautiful birds that spend time here during the winter.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tundra Swans and winter sky, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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the Landscape of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Tundra Swans are truly at home in the landscape of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and they belong there as much as the mountains, marshes, birds, animals, fish, sky and the clouds overhead do.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tundra Swans in the landscape of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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McPherson","date":"July 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes when the summer heat gets to me I look back at images I have taken during the winter and quite often I find those images to be taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I find there.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Tundra Swan in flight over Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been thinking that I need to hop into my Jeep and head to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to photograph the Tundra Swans before they head north to breed and nest.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Tundra Swan on the wing, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-9815.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swan-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-9815.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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