Trumpeter Swans of the Skagit Valley

Before we settled in here on Bainbridge Island, we spent a few days with my sister and brother-in-law.  They have property in an area of Mount Vernon called "the flats" or the Skagit Flats.

The soil in the flats is incredibly fertile, I'm told, and it is prime farmland.  You can practically see the trees and shrubs grow!   Tulips are the signature crop there and 500,000 people visit each year during the two week Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April.   About 2,000 acres of tulips are in bloom at this time in a spectacular rainbow of colors.  We are going to be back in Washington in April - perfect!

So  how does this relate to Trumpeter Swans, you ask?   First a little background:

Trumpeter Swans are one of the rarest of the native birds of North America.  They're also the largest of the waterfowl.    They typically arrive in the Skagit valley about October every year and stay until March.   They spend much of their time in those fertile fields the Skagit Valley is famous for...particularly the corn and potato fields.

This January hundreds of them descended upon my brother-in-law's land in the flats!  Seems to me that this is the first time so many of them have chosen these particular fields in all the years they have lived here.

My sister and I drove out there one day.  It was just amazing!  I took dozens of photos.  It has taken a good part of today to sort through them for a couple of good shots.  I think these will do.

I took these photographs standing in the road that borders on their land.  That's how close I could get.  It was terrific. 

I probably stood there fifteen or twenty minutes.  Periodically three or four more would fly in and land; once in awhile two or three would leave.  They have a wingspan of about eight feet!

If you look closely, you'll see that some of them are gray.  That's the color of a juvenile Trumpeter Swan.

Trumpeter Swans are called "trumpeter" for a very good reason.  They really do sound like trumpets!  When you are near an entire field filled with them it sounds like the brass section of an orchestra warming up!  I  tried to capture the sound with the video application on my camera but the danged video isn't any good.  Really blurry and although the sound is good, I got dizzy looking at it.  I wouldn't do that to you, trust me.

Maybe I'll get another chance before we leave Washington.  I hope so.