From October to March you'll often see Trumpeter Swans in the fields along this road. These magificant swans are our largest native swan. Adults weigh as much as 30 pounds and have a wing swan of 7 to 8 feet. Watching Trumpeters get airbourne always reminds me of watching a fully loaded cargo plane take off, they stay low to the ground for a l o n g time and only gradually gain altitude (that's partly why they like the large flat fields).
Swans spend the winter here in the Puget lowlands and then by late March they return to their breeding grounds in Alaska.
If the sun is out, be sure to continue driving east on this road and you might hit the trifecta, swans, bald eagles, and Mount Baker!
In addition to Trumpeter Swans, each winter we also host a few Tundra Swans, and many Snow Geese. Sometimes you'll see them together in the same field. Here are some ID tips:
Trumpeter Swans vs Tundra Swans: In the Skagit and Stillaguamish valleys there are far more Trumpeters than Tundras. Tundras sometimes have yellow/orange mark that looks like a teardrop on their bill up near their eye.
Swans vs Snow Geese: Swans have all white wings. Snow geese have black wing tips and their necks are much shorter. Snows are much smaller than swans. Swans might be just a pair or 20-30 at a time. Rarely will you see more than 100 swans at once. You'll often see hundreds, even more than a thousand, snow geese in one field.
Here's a brochure that gives more ID tips:
