Newsletter Index > Adventure Tidings e-Newsletter, April 2010
Swan Song of the Trumpeter
by Jukka Jantunen
This year's Trumpeter Swan migration has been a remarkable one so far. The first ones arrived at the usual time in mid-March and everything progressed the normal way until early April when the swans arrived in full force. On April 1st there were 200 in M'Clintock Bay (Swan Haven), 430 on Apr 2nd, 1024 already on Apr 3rd. The Trumpeter Swan peak numbers were reached on Apr 7 when over 2300 were counted there. In addition, Trumpeter Swans have been present in good numbers in the other Southern Lakes area stop over sites, especially so in Tagish were there were over 1000 Trumpeters on many days this spring. Very few Tundra Swans have been seen so far highlighting the different migration routes and habits of the two species. Trumpeters winter in SW BC and Washington and fly north through the interior of BC whereas Tundras winter in central California and fly up following the east side of the Rockies before making a sharp turn west in northern Alberta to cross southern Yukon east-west on their way to western Alaskan tundra. Trumpeters coming through the Southern Lakes area nest in western Yukon and the interior of Alaska.
The peak migration has been earlier than ever and the numbers unprecedented. Normally Trumpeter Swans peak between April 15 and 20 and Tundra Swans five to seven days later. The previous record count for Trumpeter Swan was 1600 so this year's number is much higher. The reason why they arrived so early in such numbers is not known but my theory is that because of mild winter here and in the interior of BC there was lot of open water en-route and they were able to travel without any delays. Then they just simply piled up here waiting for the spring to progress before continuing their journey. At the height of the migration there were well over 4000 Trumpeter Swans in the area approaching 15% of the entire world population!
Photo Credit: Jukka Jantunen
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About the Author: Jukka Jantunen
Jukka was born in Finland
in 1965. He started birding at the age of ten and is still a keen
birder. He bought his first camera in the mid-80s, a secondhand
Pentax. At first the camera was just another piece of gear he
carried on birding trips, used mainly to document sightings of uncommon
species and on excursions abroad. However, by the late-90s
photography had become an important aspect of his birding.
Furthermore, Jukka has managed to turn his favourite hobby into a
career and nowadays most of his time is divided between conducting
bird-related fieldwork and wildlife photography. Most of his recent
bird photographs have been taken with a Canon MkII body with 500/f4 and
300/f4 lenses.
Jukka moved to Canada in 1999 and has lived
in Montreal, Whitehorse, and various places on the coast of British
Columbia. He currently calls Comox on Vancouver Island his home.
Since coming to Canada he has travelled the country from coast to coast
and the continent from the Arctic to the Tropics but he seconds the
words of Jim Morrison, "The west is the best." His favourite places to
bird and photograph include various places in the Yukon,
coastal BC and California .
Visit Jukka Jantunen Bird Photography
