As winter descends, thousands of tundra swans make their seasonal home at one the region’s few remaining wetland habitats: Swan Lake Nature Study Area, located in an otherwise industrial block of Lemmon Valley.
A 600-foot-long boardwalk extends over the water, allowing strollers, walkers and wheelchairs easy access to view the birds, making this an engaging spot for grandparents and children alike.
“When you start noticing birds, I think it helps you be more in tune with nature … because you’re listening more; you’re looking more,” said Lauren Whitenack, vice president of the Lahontan Audubon Society. “It’s really meditative to me, to be honest.”
The swans winter here roughly from November to March, but Whitenack emphasized that when the snow is fresh in December, it’s a particularly beautiful time to watch the swans glide through the snowy backdrop.
Tundra swans are an amazing sight to see, because they indicate the health of one of our region’s last remaining wetlands. As local bodies of water dry up, so does their motivation to visit. Whitenack said that the reason swans favor Sawn Lake is because of its size. Other wetlands in the immediate area—like Damonte Ranch, South Meadows and Oxbow Nature Study Area—don’t have large or deep enough bodies of water anymore to host birds the size of tundra swans.
“It’s possible that (tundra swans) used to come here in much larger numbers than they do now,” she said. “We have a decent problem with losing our water resources due to climate change, agriculture and urbanization, so having these remaining wetlands becomes more and more important as time goes on in these species.”
These birds summer in the High Arctic and travel to the western and eastern coasts of North America. There are only a few inland destinations where some flocks spend their winter; northwestern Nevada is one of them.
Swan Lake garnered attention for protection in the early 1990s. In 1999, it was designated as a nature study area, meaning the roughly 1,800-acre park is preserved for wildlife, habitat protection, environmental education and outdoor recreation. The prime feature of the park is the lake, which fluctuates between 100 and 1,000 acres, depending on seasonal snowmelt from Peavine Mountain.
According to the Washoe County Swan and Silver Lake Water Monitoring program, the lake is currently around 980 acres. When the water is higher, more swans visit.
“A few years ago, I counted 2,000 swans,” Whitenack said. She predicts just as many birds will visit this winter.
With that many birds around, Whitenack said to expect a lot of noise. “All the swans come down, and it’s like a family reunion or something, because they’re very vocal, and they make this trumpeting sound,” she said. “It’s such an elegant bird, but it’s not a very elegant noise. … It’s this rowdy, rooping noise. But it is incredible.”
With the naked eye from the boardwalk or southeastern shores, you should be able to see swans glide across the water or stirring up the water to scavenge for plants to eat. “You can’t see their feet under the water, but you can see them rocking back and forth on the surface,” Whitenack said. “It looks really funny.”
Binoculars are recommended to get the best view, because the birds spend their time in the middle of the lake, not along the shores. Binoculars and spotting scopes (telescopes with 20-30 times magnification, used widely by birders) are available for public use during Lahontan Audubon Society birding events.
Swan sightings can happen all day, Whitenack said, but the evenings might make for the most impressive experiences.
“Sometimes groups of birds will go out during the day and forage elsewhere, and then they’ll come back to one place to roost for the night,” she said. “You might see, as the sun is going down, a bunch more birds coming in to roost; it can be really beautiful and fun to watch them all come in and land very gracefully on the water.”
The sunsets at the lake are also special, presenting a golden hour that feels miles away from the industrial complex surrounding the park.
You can also time your visit to see some of the other 200-plus species that inhabit the lake. Songbirds are best spotted in the morning; raptors can be seen hunting midday; and owls are active in the evenings. Coyotes might be spotted darting through the sage, and a rustle or two underfoot might indicate a desert cottontail rabbit. Resources like eBird—both a website and app—note which species can be spotted during particular times and provide excellent species-specific information about birds’ behavior.
Whitenack discourages feeding any of the birds you may see. The city of Reno prohibits feeding waterfowl outside of designated areas (at Virginia Lake, Idlewild and Teglia’s Paradise parks). Feeding can be harmful to animals by disrupting their natural habits and diets. It is also unlikely that a swan will accept food from humans.
“Tundra species are really wild,” Whitenack said. “They spend most of their year not seeing a single human in the very North Arctic, so they’re not likely to be the type of bird that would come and eat something that people brought.”
If feeding birds is more your style, Whitenack recommends visiting a designated feeding area (like Virginia Lake) and bringing food that agrees with their natural diet, such as thawed frozen peas or dried oats.
“I think everyone could use some birds in their life,” Whitenack said, noting that tundra swans are a great “spark bird” for birding rookies.
“A lot of birders talk about a spark bird, a bird that got them interested in birding, and maybe if you bring your kids out for a December walk to see the swans, the swans can be their spark bird,” she said with a laugh.
The Lahontan Audubon Society will host a Swan Lake Family Birding Trip from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15. The event is free and open to all ages and experience levels. Binoculars and a spotting scope will be available for use. Visit www.nevadaaudubon.org/calendar.html to sign up.