March is here and so are the tundra swans.
Today, I took a quick drive around the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route to see how the tundra swan migration is shaping up and I was pleasantly surprised when I came across thousands of swans all over the auto loop.
March is typically the best month to see the tundra swans on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and that is holding true again this year.
Most of the refuge is still iced over but that should change soon with the normal high temperature for this time of year to be nearly 50 degrees.
Tundra swans are known to migrate north to the arctic tundra and parts of Alaska to breed.
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And on this annual spring migration, thousands of swans stop over on the Bear River Bird Refuge for a few weeks or so to rest and feed for the long flight northward.
If you ask me, the spring tundra swan migration is one of the high points for the refuge each year.
Now don’t get me wrong, however, there are a lot of great birds to watch on the Bear River Bird Refuge throughout the year.
But the tundra swans come in such great numbers, are quite vocal as they feed and court one another, and are gone almost overnight when the impulse to migrate gets too strong for the swans to resist, it is a spectacle like no other and you truly have to experience it in person at peak migration to see what I mean.
I have posted a couple of tundra swan videos on my YouTube channel of past spring migrations, but the videos just don’t compare to experiencing it in person, especially when the swans are very vocal and can be heard all over the refuge in large numbers.
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The tundra swans do migrate back through Utah during fall, but due to the waterfowl hunt, they aren’t as easily seen as they are in the spring when the refuge auto tour route is filled with swans from one end to the other most years.
Today, I found numerous tundra swans 100 yards or so from the road on the northwest portion of the auto loop.
Once the ice completely melts, the swans will be spread out all over the refuge but for now, there seems to be quite a few, at least for today, that is, that are hanging out on the northwest corner in fairly good viewing distance without needing any magnification.
I also came across a large number of swans on the east leg of the refuge auto tour route, but those were barely visible to the naked eye due to how far away they were.
All in all now is the perfect time to see the swans on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
And if you catch it right, there are a few thousand snow geese also migrating through Utah this time of year to the arctic tundra in the neighboring farming town of Corinne that are often seen feeding in waste grain fields early mornings and late evenings.
The tundra swans and snow geese migrations coincide nicely with one another so the two can make for a great day of bird watching in March if you plan it right.
If you are a bird watcher like I am and enjoy the sights and sounds of spring migration, I offer you to head on over to our subscribe page and sign up for email notifications for future blog posts.
We also have a small but growing YouTube channel where we post occasional video updates about the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as well as short nature clips when we are able to capture them on film.
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