Tundra Swans

 Last weekend I made my third trip down to southern Minnesota to photograph tundra swans. Each year tundra swans migrate from their breeding grounds up in Alaska and northern Canada down to the Atlantic or Pacific coasts of the southern United States. A large population, numbering in the thousands, stop over on the Mississippi River in Southern Minnesota to fill up on tubers, roots, of the arrowhead plant before heading east to the Carolina Coast.

 The migration here usually starts at the beginning of November but when I traveled down to the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge on the first week of November there were very few swans to photograph, and most were in the middle of the river. The second weekend in November, which is typically when the most swans are in the area, was a little better but still there were not many swans in the water by the overlook. The problem was that the weather was so mild with temps in the 60s to 70s that the swans put off migrating. Finally a dip in the temps brought enough swans down on the third weekend that some finally were with in photo range.

Since each trip was about a two and a half hour drive each way I found other subjects to photograph on the trips where the swans were not around. There are usually a lot of bald eagles on the river this time of year. This one had almost completely molted into its mature adults feathers. With the little bit of black still on the head and tails I would estimate its age at six to seven yeas old. Besides fishing in the river the eagles will also go after the small ducks that are also migrating south. In a few weeks most of the river may be frozen, the swans and ducks will be on their way south to their wintering grounds, and the bald eagles that remain will congregate in spots where the river stays open.

Tundra Swans

Each fall thousands of tundra swans migrate from their breeding grounds up on the north Arctic coasts of Alaska, Canada, Europe and Asia to a more hospitable climate for the winter. In North America the tundra swans migrate to locations along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the central United States. During this migration many of the swans that breed in north central Canada migrate here through Minnesota on their way to the Atlantic Coast. They usually congregate in a couple locations in the Mississippi river where they can find plant roots that they eat. They usually arrive here in Minnesota near the beginning of November and will stay until the river freezes up and they can no loner feed. This stop over is vital because these large birds burn a lot of energy during migration.  

Tundra Swan

 This morning I am heading out to Brownsville, MN, near the Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin border. I am hoping to have the opportunity to photograph tundra swans. We have a pretty good population of nesting trumpeter swans here in Minnesota but the tundra swans are only around for a few weeks during migration. You can tell the difference because the tundra swans have the little yellow tear drop on the beak under the eye and the trumpeters do not. Tundra swans nest up above the Arctic Circle but they winter along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. On their way to their wintering grounds thousands stop on the Mississippi River near Brownsville, MN to refuel by eating the tubers of water vegetation found there. Once the river freezes up they will head south east again. I am hoping that I am not too late. Our temps have dropped below freezing during the night for the past few weeks but the daytime temps have been in the upper 40's with the low 50's projected for today. If I did miss the swans I still have a chance at photographing bald eagles along the river and I may swing into south western Wisconsin and see if any of the golden eagles have returned to their wintering grounds.

Swans

Swans are large waterfowl that are typically found in temperate climates. They are closely related to geese and share the same subfamily, Anserinae. There are seven species of swans found around the world, only two of which are native to North America.

The trumpeter swan is the larger of the two North American species. They are the largest waterfowl in North America and typically weigh from 17 to 28 pounds. They breed on freshwater wetlands in Alaska, Canada and northern portions of the United States. They migrate short distance during the winter to locations where they can find open water. We do have trumpeter that nest here in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. With in the next couple of weeks I should begin to see cygnets, baby swans, swimming with their parents up at Crex Meadows, where they have numerous pairs breeding This photo was taken at Monticello, MN where the water stays open during the winter.

The other swan that we see here in Minnesota is the tundra swan. They are smaller then the trumpeters typically weighing between 16 to 23 pounds.Tundra swans do not nest here in Minnesota. As their name suggests they are a bird of the far north. They breed up around the arctic circle. During the winter they migrate south. Some parts of the population migrate down to Europe and Asia while others migrate down to the east and west coast of North America.A large chunk of the Canadian breeding population heads south into the central part of the continent before turning east and heading for the coast. In November the Mississippi River, in southern Minnesota, is filled with thousands of tundra swans that stop over to eat and rest. This photo was taken near Brownsville, Mn during the tundra swan migration.  

Brownsville

Each fall tundra swans migrate from their breeding grounds up at the Arctic Circle down to the coastal waters of the continental United States. At the same time many birders and photographers, like myself, head down to Brownsville, MN.

Each year thousand of tundra swans stop on their journey across the continent to stage for the rest of their migration on the Mississippi River near Brownsville.

They begin to arrive in late October and they will usually stay until the river freezes up.

They spend most of their time here resting up and feeding in preparation for the rest of the journey. They chose this spot because of the high amount of underwater vegetation present. Tundra swans are primarily vegetarians that use their long necks to find and feed on tubers that are on the muddy bottom of the river.

These tubers are part of the root system of plants like arrowhead, wild celery and pondweed. In the past most of these plants were wiped out by silt that traveled down the river after the loch and dam system was put into place. However over the past decade the US Army Corps of Engineers has built a series of barrier islands in the river to help protect this vital habitat.

Of course any time you have a thousand swans all together in a small stretch of river you are bound to have some tensions which sometimes break out into conflict. But confrontations do not last long and then all the swans go back about their own business. Don't you wish that people were as smart as swans.

Waterfowl Observation Day

On Saturday November 14th the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge sponsored their annual Waterfowl Observation Day at the overlook just south of Brownsville Minnesota. I had planned to go down for the event however the weather was not very cooperative, its hard to justify driving 3 hours each way when I probably would not get very good pictures with an over cast sky. I did head down on Sunday though which was my third trip to the area in the past couple of weeks.

The overlook, which sits on the edge of the Mississippi River near the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa border, was opened back in 2007 and offers visitors an excellent view of migrating waterfowl. This part of the river has also been under construction. Several groups, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Minnesota DNR and others, have been working at reestablishing many of the small islands that have been eroded away by the river.

These islands are important to the health of the river and the flora and fauna that depend on it. The islands help protect the aquatic vegetation from the strong river currents. This vegetation is an important food source to many different waterfowl. The vegetation also provides habitat for fish and invertebrates which are a food source for diving waterfowl. So the Army Corps of Engineers has dredged sediment from the main river channel and used it to build these man made islands.

The main reason why many people visit the overlook is the large number of tundra swans that use the river as a staging area for their fall migration. Each year most of the eastern population of tundra swans, currently they estimate 12 to 15 thousand swans in the Brownsville area with another 5000 or more yet to arrive, leave their nesting grounds up in the arctic circle and head south, stopping here to fuel up for the long trip.

They stop here for the tubers, enlarged roots that store food for the plants so that they can survive the winter and grow again the next year, which each swans eats approximately 6 pounds of each day for several weeks. They will stay in the area eating until the river freezes up and then they will continue their migration to the east coast, where they spend the winter.

Watery Wednesday: Tundra Swans

I have been hoping to get out and get some pictures of migrating waterfowl this spring so that I would have some new pics to post for Watery Wednesday.

Unfortunately it seems like the waterfowl migration this year, at least around my house, is a bust. Last year I was out getting pics of ruddy ducks, horned grebes and red-breasted merganser but this year I feel fortunate if I see something other then a mallard or Canadian goose.

I have been out looking since the ice melted and the water opened up but I still have not seen a lot of waterfowl.

It may be that last year we had such a good spring migration, not only with waterfowl but with warblers also. because many birds stopped in the area for a while because their was still a lot of snow north of us. This year everything has pretty much thawed so perhaps they just did not stop in this area this year.

So it is a good thing that I still have some tundra swan pics that I took last fall that I have not yet posted.

Tundra swans are the smaller of the two type that are found in North America. They nest up in the tundra areas of Alaska and Canada but in the fall many often gather on the Mississippi River in southern Minnesota, staging for their migration south.

These pictures were taken near Brownsville, MN on November 11th. The swan with a pink bill is an immature bird. He probably hatched during the summer and has not yet fully matured. The adult in these pics was teaching the immature swan an important lesson and that lesson came from the end of the adults beak.

PhotoFriday: White (Tundra Swans)

Minnesota is a pretty good place to live if you want to take pictures of swans. Not only do we have trumpeter swans nesting in Minnesota, as well as in near by western Wisconsin, but during migration periods we also usually get a visit from thousands of tundra swans.
Tundra swans nest up near the arctic coast of Canada, Alaska and Siberia. They typically spend the winter on either the east or west coast.

While migrating, tundra swans usually travel in flocks. In the late fall many of these flocks begin to join together in staging areas near the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa border.

The swans use the time that they spend staging on the Mississippi to search the shallow waters near Brownsville, MN for aquatic vegetation , like wild celery and arrowhead tubers, which they eat.

Swans migrating through this area in the fall are typically heading for the east coast and will probably spend the winter on ponds and lakes along the east coast, near Chesapeake Bay, or further down the coast in marsh lands in Virginia or North Carolina. They usually begin to arrive in early November and will leave around Thanksgiving, weather permitted.

Tundra swans are smaller then trumpeter swans, although it is difficult to identify a trumpeter from a tundra based on size unless you have members of each species side by side. Since his does not often happen, the way that I distinguish between these two types of swans is by the tear drop yellow mark that tundra swans usually have on their beak under their eyes. Trumpeter swans have no such mark, their bills are completely black. The yellow mark is pretty noticeable on the pictures above, all tundra swans, however if you take a look at my last post you will notice the all black bill that the trumpeters have.

My World: Pool 8

Established by an Act of Congress back in 1924 the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge stretches 261 miles miles across 4 states and covers 240,000 acres. The refuge is divided into 4 different districts with 14 pools contained with in the districts.

The pools and waterways, plus 48,000 acres of marsh habitat, 51,000 acres of floodplain forest, and 5,700 acres of grassland, are home to more then 600 species of plants. Over 40% of waterfowl in the US use the area, which is a part of the Mississippi Flyway, for migration, with 50% of the world's canvasback ducks staging on the refuge. There are also large populations of bald eagles that nest on the refuge as well as 15 nesting colonies of great blue heron and common egret with over 5,000 birds. The refuge also supports many different types of fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

The refuge is way to large to cover in one edition of My World so I would like to concentrate on a small portion of the refuge that I like to frequent at this time of the year. Down in the La Crosse District, not far from the Minnesota and Iowa border, sit pool 8.

On the Minnesota side of pool 8 a new overlook was constructed back in 2007. This overlook is located along highway 26 just south of Brownsville, MN. This facility, which consists of an observation deck with interpretive signs and an information kiosk as well as a retaining wall and parking, overlooks lower pool 8 and the Wisconsin Islands Closed Area, which have been very successful at attracting large numbers of waterfowl, each fall, due to successful habitat restoration projects and water drawdowns in 2001-2002.

Water level management by the US Army Corps of Engineers has become necessary at the Upper Mississippi NWFR because the series of locks and dams on the Mississippi River, which are used to control water levels for commercial boat traffic, have created higher water levels in the backwaters and pools. This higher water effected many of the aquatic plants which were necessary for acceptable habitat for many of the fish and waterfowl. The increased water levels also effected wading birds such as the great blue heron.

Since the drawdowns in 2001-2002 many of the aquatic plants that require shallow water have made a come back. This has helped increase the number of waterfowl in the refuge. During the fall even greater numbers of waterfowl appear in the shallower waters of pool 8 to stage for their migration south. Flocks, often numbering into the thousands, of mixed ducks can often be seen on the water until it freezes up.

The Army Corps of Engineers has also spent time building up many of the islands in the pool which were eroded away when the water was higher. The islands are often enlarged by ice as the temps begin to get colder.

The highlight of the fall migration, down on pool 8, is when the tundra swans stop over on their trip from their nesting territories up on the northern Arctic coast to their wintering grounds on the east coast. This is cool not only because of the number of swans present, 20% of the eastern population of swans stage in the refuge, but because we do not often get to see tundra swans in Minnesota.

Tundra swans breed up on lakes, ponds and pools on the tundra up along the Arctic coast. Their nest is bowl shaped and made up of vegetation lined with down. The nest is typically placed on a mound or other incline in the tundra. Adult swans will defend their nest from smaller predators, like foxes, weasels and other birds, when larger predators, like bears, wolves or people, show up the swans will leave the nest so that it is more difficult to find.
Young swans, called cygnets, are born as little balls of down with their eyes open. Within 24 hours of hatching they will leave the nest and will already be able to feed and swim. By the time that they are ready to migrate south the cygnets will almost be as large as the other adults. They are still easy to identify however, because they are more grey in color then the older adults and have a pink bill.

The tundra swans are smaller then the trumpeter swans that breed in the area, but it is difficult to tell the difference by size since it is not very often that I see them together so that I can compare size. Fortunately the tundra swans do have a yellow triangle shaped patch on the side of their bill which trumpeters do not so if they are close enough it is rather easy to ID which type that you are looking at.

At this time of the year there are also a lot of eagles circling the skies above pool 8. Eagles are partial migrants, that means that they will not migrate unless they lose their food source. Since most eagles eat a lot of fish they need to migrate when the lakes and river begin to ice over. Many of the eagles from central Canada, northern Minnesota and Wisconsin end up on parts of the Upper Mississippi NWFR that do not freeze during the winter.

There are also a few golden eagles that winter in the upper Mississippi River Valley in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Golden eagles are much more rare and most people who think that they see them are actually seeing immature bald eagles, like this one, who do not get the white head and tail until they are about 5 years old.

There are usually other raptors around besides eagles. Red-tailed hawks are often seen along the road side at almost any time of the year. Although they are not usually seen there are probably also great horned owls in the area.

American kestrels are also partial migrants. Many of the kestrels will leave the area and head south when the cold winter weather begins. They will eat the larger dragonflies, who are also migrating, on their trip south. Kestrels eat a variety of prey including birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Since many of these food types are not available during a Minnesota winter, reptiles, amphibians, and insects, there is less food available so some kestrels will leave for better hunting areas in the south. But not all kestrels will leave. Some will stay in the area and live off of rodents and small birds