A Herald of May

These first two photos were taken before May 1, I had stopped by the bluff near the Senior Center and sighted a couple of beluga in the river. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture. It has been really windy the last couple of days and even the birds can't keep their plumage tidy! 

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Immature eagle in the wind. Check out those talons! I met a couple from LaGrande while on the bluff. The man was looking for a good eagle photo, but said they were trash birds. I laughed. 

 May 1 I hiked thru the muskeg to see if I could capture a few waterfowl photos. I'm not sure I'll go out again, it was really wet! I forgot to pay attention to my feet and slipped in the grasses almost to the car, bad idea!!!

 I had gone out because earlier I had driven past and noticed this giant white bird on the ice. It was all folded up and I was afraid it was dead. Nope, it was just sleeping! I can't imagine sleeping on ice, but all the birds were doing it!

 The ice didn't seem to be more than a rather chilly shelf to hang out on. I laughed at this photo! Walking and sleeping on ice in the sun seemed the thing to do on the first day of May.

I think this is a lesser yellow legs, similar to the greater yellow legs, but smaller. I could be wrong, however.

 I took this to show how far away I was from the edge of the ice. I did walk up to the 'shore', it was uncertain in spots. I opted to stand where I could tell the ground was solid.

 There were lots of birds flying. These two passed over the icy lake and startled the lone swan on the ice. I think there were tern, but they were moving pretty darn fast to do more than see their white graceful shapes as they darted around.

 Muskeg!

These last photos I was on the edge of the shore, I had hoped the swan would come closer. It didn't.

 When I got back to the house, mum told me she had a flower getting ready to bloom. I'm so glad I scattered these seeds last year! I love their perky blooms. (violas)

Swans!

There are a LOT of swan photos here. I tried to decide what not to share, but it was too difficult! I was so excited to see them and I wanted to show off every photo I had. Last  year, there was a single grown swan paddling on the edge of the ice. This year, there were four adults, with a pair on the right side and a pair on the left. It was hard to choose which two to watch! These are unedited (the first one I did crop a bit of ground and sky off-I did a careful sneaking up on them. I kept taking photos so I'd have something if they spooked.) 

 Often ducks will hang out near these swan because the larger birds stir up vegetation from below with their beaks or feet. This makes for an easy snack for the other dabblers.  

This was the second pair. They did quite a bit of grooming. 

 (Back to the other side....I was really excited!)

 And then everyone decided to swim off. I hope to see them again, I don't want to disturb them, but I'd love to get a bit closer than the verge on the road.

 I believe these are Trumpeter Swan. Tundra swan congregate in flocks, while these tend to  keep to pairs. They are reported to mate for life, but not always. Trumpeter swan have all black beaks, while the Tundra ones have a yellow spot near their bill, but not always! The black band on their beak tends to be a 'U' shape to the 'V' on the Trumpeter. The Tundra swan is also smaller. The Trumpeter does not have much of a call. More of a 'oh-ohhhh' sound. You'd never believe such a giant bird (25 pounds) would have such a quiet voice. I forgot to mark what gives them their  name, the Tundra sort of whistle when they fly (their wings), but these guys are more silent once they get off the water. I often look up bird information on the all about birds site on Cornell lab of ornithology. (follow link)