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Trumpeter Swan

As a former French horn player, I love the brassy sounds made by the Trumpeter Swan. The air was ringing with them this morning.

Trumpeter Swans

By 1933, fewer than 70 wild trumpeters were known to exist and extinction seemed imminent. Fortunately a few populations were found, one of which was in a remote area of British Columbia.

Trumpeter Swan

Careful reintroductions by wildlife agencies and a group called the Trumpeter Swan Society gradually restored the North American population to over 46,000 birds by 2010.

Trumpeter Swan

The Bluffers Park area is the best place in this area to see and hear the trumpeters; the heaviest living bird native to North America.

Trumpeter Swan

It was a beautiful sunrise this morning with a temperature of about 0 degrees.

Here are some early morning photos from the Bluffs:

St. Augustine’s Seminary

If you look carefully, you can still see a bit of the blue colour of Heart-leaved Aster flowers:

Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Some interesting tree fungii:

There is a rock at the Bluffs where some kind soul leaves feed every morning. This enabled me to get the following photos:

American Tree Sparrows

American Tree Sparrow

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Chickadee, Tree Sparrow and Cardinal

Blue Jay