St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club

Category: Tundra Swans

  • Duck Rally 2025 Results

    Annual Duck Rally started at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area with 30 species to start our day including a juvenile Trumpeter Swan. The coldest place this year was Belmont Sewage Lagoons due to extremely cold brisk winds from the north. Because of the weather the harbour at Port Stanley was a bust.
    We had a great turnout with 28 people from the west end of the county, London and all the way to Stratford in the north east joining us for a great day birding. A Belted Kingfisher greeted us at Lake Margaret and that is where we got our Pied-billed Grebes and Blue-winged Teal.
    Twenty of us went to The Buccaneer in Port Stanley for a very enjoyable lunch and finished at Port Stanley Lagoons where many got to see an immature Golden Eagle and crazy number of American Coots. We ended with 52 species for the day. Surprise of the day was no Wood Ducks.
    Hope everyone who came out had a great time and look forward to the Rondeau Adventure on May 10th.

    List of birds seen on Duck Rally on March 22, 2025

    Canada GooseBuffleheadBelted Kingfisher
    Mute SwanHooded MerganserBlue Jay
    Trumpeter SwanCommon MerganserAmerican Crow
    Tundra SwanRuddy DuckCommon Raven
    Blue-winged TealMourning DoveBlack-capped Chickadee
    Northern ShovelerAmerican CootEuropean Starling
    GadwallKilldeerEastern Bluebird
    American WigeonRing-billed GullAmerican Robin
    MallardPied-billed GrebeHouse Sparrow
    American Black DuckHorned GrebeDark-eyed Junco
    Northern PintailGreat Blue HeronWhite-crowned Sparrow
    Green-winged TealTurkey VultureSong Sparrow
    CanvasbackGolden EagleEastern Meadowlark
    RedheadCooper’s HawkRed-winged Blackbird
    Ring-necked DuckNorthern HarrierBrown-headed Cowbird
    Greater ScaupBald EagleCommon Grackle
    Lesser ScaupRed-tailed HawkNorthern Cardinal

  • Aylmer Tundra Swans 2018

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    Tundra Pond showing Goose Island.

    The Tundra Swans have arrived at Aylmer Wildlife Management Area, part of their initial staging area. They are currently averaging about 1000 Swans a day.
    The Elgin Stewardship Council was formed in 1997 and has been looking after the area since then and feeds the swans 23 to 25 bushels of shelled corn every day about 9 a.m. There are volunteers each day from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to answer any questions.

    The Tundra’s spend almost a third of the year going from their wintering grounds around Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina to their nesting areas on the West coast of Hudson Bay, Central High arctic or the Mackenzie Delta, up to a 6000 kilometer journey.

    Aylmer WMA has 4 viewing stands, 2 of which are open and 2 which are enclosed (1 wheelchair accessible). This area has been declared a globally Important Bird Area and the ponds a Provincially Significant Wetland. Aylmer WMA is perhaps the best place in North America to see Tundra Swans up close.

    Aylmer WMA was originally #14 Service Flying Training School RCAF until 1961.

    The Aylmer-Malahide Museum offer a Tundra Swan Line you can call and find out how many Tundra Swans are at Aylmer WMA on that day, call 519-773-SWAN(7926).

    To get to Aylmer WMA via GPS use 10594 Hacienda Rd, Aylmer, ON.