{"id":54662,"date":"2018-10-19T05:22:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T11:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54662"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T22:05:22","slug":"time-to-keep-an-eye-on-the-sky-for-migrating-tundra-swans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/19\/time-to-keep-an-eye-on-the-sky-for-migrating-tundra-swans\/","title":{"rendered":"Time To Keep An Eye On The Sky For Migrating Tundra Swans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FlockFlock of Tundra Swans in flight over a marsh – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last night I was looking through images that I took on October 24, 2017 and I realized that was when I first heard and saw flocks of migrating Tundra Swans flying over the marshes in the fall of 2017. I was so delighted to see my first of the year Tundras.<\/p>\n

As usual I heard the Tundra Swans well before I saw them as they called in flight high overhead against a cloudy autumn sky. I took some rather crappy, documentary images of them so I would remember when I first saw these large, white birds returning from their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

I get just as excited about seeing them as most young children do about opening presents on Christmas morning because I am still a child at heart when it comes to birds and I hope that I always will be.<\/p>\n

The flocks of Tundra Swans can make quite a racket, you can listen to them here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Typically I see Tundra Swans at Salt Creek WMA, the marshes surrounding the Great Salt Lake, flying over the causeway to Antelope Island, Bear River MBR, and Farmington Bay WMA most often but it isn’t unusual for me to spot them flying high overhead when I am driving down the 1-15 Interstate either.<\/p>\n

With cold fronts moving in it is indeed time for me to keep an eye on the sky for flocks of Tundra Swans migrating back into northern Utah and I will most certainly be listening for them now too.<\/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

The photo above was taken in February of 2011 as the swans flew over Farmington Bay WMA.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With cold fronts moving in it is indeed time for me to keep an eye on the sky for flocks of Tundra Swans migrating back into northern Utah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144818,"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":[27,1022,697,158,26],"tags":[6850,4101,4431,4052,4122,4094,530,4628,3122,2117,3537],"class_list":["post-54662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-tundra-swans","category-utah","tag-calling-in-flight","tag-clouds","tag-cygnus-columbianus","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-marsh","tag-migration","tag-swan","tag-swans","tag-tundra-swan","tag-wintering-grounds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-flock-flight-mia-mcpherson-5856.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-edE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/10\/time-to-see-and-hear-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":54662,"position":0},"title":"Time To See And Hear Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Now is a great time to see and hear Tundra Swans from the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I saw several large flocks of them yesterday from 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":"Autumn flock of Tundra Swans in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tundra-swan-flock-in-november-mia-mcpherson-7045.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I had hoped that this morning would be sunny so I could head to Bear River MBR to see, listen to, and photograph Tundra Swans on the marshes.","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 and immature Tundra Swans in morning flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tundra-swans-adult-immature-flight-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0177.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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in flight over the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-mia-mcpherson-5944.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-mia-mcpherson-5944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-mia-mcpherson-5944.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tundra-swans-mia-mcpherson-5944.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61881,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/04\/visions-of-tundra-swans\/","url_meta":{"origin":54662,"position":4},"title":"Visions Of Tundra Swans","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I need to get to Bear River MBR soon because I have visions of Tundra Swans drifting through my mind and I'd love to see them in person on the marshes of the refuge again.","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 and immature Tundra Swans in flight with a cloudy sky behind them, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/tundra-swans-flight-cloudy-sky-mia-mcpherson-8364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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