Driving past Black Lake in Ilwaco is always a treat at this time of year! Trumpeter swans may provide the treat! Trumpeter families stay together on migration. So, we may see a family of four foraging for algae and aquatic plant material on the lake. After all, the peninsula is a major part of their wintering range. They come down from Alaska in December to winter over.

Walking the Martha Jordan trail at this time of year is also a treat. At the end of the trail is Hines Marsh, home to wintering trumpeter swans. The marsh is large, so one must be very quiet and patient to see them. They hide away in the vegetation where they can safely munch on aquatic plants and algae. However, they do move about and thus will come out into the open water when in search of another place to forage! To date, hikers, birders and walkers have seen at least eight at one time. My birding to look for them took me to the lower end of Hines Marsh located along the Oysterville Road. I wasn’t disappointed. Many swans a swimming came into view.

A friend and reader of the Observer saw a huge flock of around 100 trumpeters foraging and resting in a wetland on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Most of the swans would have been headed to the Pacific Northwest, which is the core of their winter range. How fortunate are we to see them and have the winter to watch, study and even photograph them? We are lucky, indeed!

Another trumpeter swan adventure often begins at the wetland on 227th. At least one family, parents and their grayish cygnets, have wintered over in the wetland for the last few years. I have also heard that trumpeter swans have wintered on Loomis Lake.

Trumpeter swans will also forage in grain fields where they can feast on seeds! In this case, they may stop there on their way to more aquatic environs. The trumpeters will stay there until they are full, rested and well prepared to continue their journey to the Pacific Northwest.

Whenever I see trumpeter swans, I am awe struck by the fact that I am looking at the world’s largest and heaviest waterfowl. Their call is something to behold. It is described as a trumpet — like call, a distinct deep nasal sound that some writers say sounds like a French horn! Their name describes their call perfectly!

Crossley (2017) states that “the trumpeter swan is like a tundra swan on steroids.” They can weigh anywhere from 17 to 28 pounds and have a wingspan of just over six feet, and it can have a length of up to five feet. If the wintering grounds suit the birds, you may see the same adults for many years. Their lifespan is about 24 years!

I have had the good fortune to be able to observe trumpeter swans on the peninsula now for many, many years. For me, they are the stars of the winter show! If you happen upon a show as I have, you will hear much honking as the swans come in, then there will be low flights of these beautiful white birds overhead. They will keep coming until the flock has settled for rest and sustenance. Trumpeter swans are magnificent, large and stately showstoppers.

Happy birding!