Trumpeter Swans (Cygnes trompettes) along the Grand River

23 March 2016

rare Charitable Research Reserve

Cambridge, ON

      Miriam and I do bird monitoring at rare each weekend, spring and fall, and the route we do on Sunday mornings is called the East Cliff Forest Route, which takes us along the bank of the Grand River.

     This morning, for the very first time, we observed Trumpeter Swans Cygnus buccinator along the river, one adult and three cygnets to be precise.

     This species migrates in family groups, so it was a bit of a mystery as to why the second adult was not present also. As may be seen, the young birds are now fully as big as their parent.

     The adult bird seems to have some king of vegetation wrapped around the front of its body, but this seemed not to impede it in any way, and I suspect that upon taking flight it would quickly shake it loose.

     It was a very special sighting and certainly Trumpeter Swan was "the bird of the day."

     We were accompanied this morning by Jade Bassler, a University of Waterloo environmental studies undergraduate, who added much to the conviviality of our walk. As you have learned from previous blog posts, Jade has been out to SpruceHaven with us a couple of times, and both Miriam and I will look forward to doing more with this enthusiastic, committed young woman. It was our pleasure to have her along today.