Tundra Swan on Eastern Bay at Christmas Time
'Tis the Season for Tundra Swan...for Now
At winter’s holiday season, nature’s gifts to us here on the Eastern Shore are breathtaking vistas—geese flying in V formation against a mackerel sky over the Choptank River, buffleheads circling a cove off the Tred Avon before gliding into a water-ski-like landing, and if one is particularly lucky, a lone loon on Eastern Bay, wailing momentarily before plunging torpedo-like beneath the surface. And what could be more spectacular than a ballet of swans floating gracefully along a tree-lined water’s edge on the Chester?
Tundra swans overwinter here on the Chesapeake, travelling thousands of miles from the Arctic Circle where they will return at winter’s end to breed and raise young. Before a sighting comes into view, sounds of their lilting yodels—ou-OU-ooouuu—make them easy to find. Even on a dark, cloudy night, one can identify a flock passing overhead by their distinctive, mellow calls. Taking a few moments to be absolutely and utterly absorbed in the natural world is a nepenthe that deepens the soul and enlivens the spirit.
In literature across civilizations, swans appear as agents of transformation, symbolizing personal growth, spiritual awakening, and the ability to navigate life’s challenges with grace and poise. In Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Ducking, a gray cygnet endures contempt and isolation for being different until he is finally able to see himself as a magnificent swan. E.B. White’s The Trumpet of the Swan is a tale about a swan born without a voice who overcomes his disability by learning to read, write, and play the trumpet. There is the ballet, Swan Lake, the European legend, The Swan Maiden, the Hindu folktale, The Golden Swan, and oh so many more. Diverse cultures from around the world including Native American, Irish, Greek, Finnish, Japanese, and Chinese all feature the swan as an agent of transformation.
When setting a New Year’s resolution this year, consider pledging aloud before a lamentation of swan; perhaps the swan’s symbolic power of transformation will support the desired change.
The window of opportunity is narrowing.
According to Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources 2022 Joint Chairman report, although the number of tundra swans in the Atlantic flyway has grown since the 1960s, the number of swan wintering in Maryland has declined as the birds bypass the Chesapeake for more productive feeding grounds in North Carolina. The report states that in the 1960s, about 65% of the flyway swans wintered in Maryland, but today the number has dropped to eight percent. It’s a blessing that the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee voted unfavorably to establish a Tundra Swan hunt in 2023, but the broader fight involves restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and preservation of native habitats.
Hopefully 2026 will bring the wherewithal to overcome obstacles and transform the health of our little corner of the bay so that future generations can enjoy divine spectacles of the natural world.
Tundra Swan Tidbit
Tundra swan have been migrating from the Arctic Circle to the Chesapeake Bay for as long as migratory birds have been tracked. They overwinter here, returning to their breeding grounds in early March. John James Audubon tracked bird migration as early as 1803. Systematic tracking of Tundra Swan migration on the East Coast began in earnest with comprehensive neck-banding programs starting around 1966, which were later supplemented by advanced telemetry in the late 1990s.