This article shares a selection of photographs of Tundra Swans in Aylmer, captured handheld at the Aylmer Wildlife Management Area. Each spring during migration season between 10,000 and 60,000 birds make a stop at this location.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
There is a limited time in the spring during which you can see and photograph Tundra Swans in Aylmer, Ontario. Once the birds start arriving they often only stay in the area for 3 to 5 weeks.
The Aylmer Wildlife Management Area has a telephone hotline that provides a recorded message. This message provides daily swan count estimates during the migration period.
While the main building is closed due to COVID-19, there is an elevated viewing platform and a pair of ‘no flush’ outhouses available to visitors. There are also a number of trails that can be explored.
Certain areas near the viewing platform adjacent to the main ponds where the Tundra Swans congregate, are off limits to visitors as the birds can be very skittish.
The main viewing platform can accommodate about 15-20 visitors. During our weekday visit we found that everyone was masked and observed proper protocols.
Not wanting to shoot into the early morning sun, we arrived at about 11 AM and photographed the Tundra Swans until 2 PM. One never knows how many bird-in-flight opportunities will present themselves during a visit.
Occasionally some of the Tundra Swans in Aylmer would do a fly-over fairly close to the viewing platform. Most of the time I was photographing birds at a distance. As a result I shot with my M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom fully extended, with my MC-14 teleconverter attached.
This combination provides a focal length of 560 mm… an equivalent field-of-view of 1120 mm. Even at this efov there were numerous times when the Tundra Swans in-flight were too far out to bother attempting to photograph them.
I used my M.Zuiko MC-20 for the last hour or so that we were at the Aylmer Wildlife Management Area. I didn’t even bother trying to process the vast majority of my MC-20 images as I didn’t feel they were quite sharp enough at these long distances.
This is the first time that I’ve visited this location to try my hand at photographing Tundra Swans in Aylmer. Overall it was an enjoyable experience.
Photographing birds-in-flight that were generally more than 100 metres away is not typically my cup of tea, as I like to get in much closer to subject birds. It was still a beneficial outing as I had the opportunity to practise my handheld technique with distant birds.
It was also an opportunity to assess the results of the MC-14 and MC-20 teleconverters when used with the M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom in this specific shooting environment.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured hand-held using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process. Crops are noted for each photograph.
How you can help keep this site advertising free
My intent is to keep this photography blog advertising free. If you enjoyed this article and/or my website and would like to support my work, you can purchase an eBook, or make a modest $10 donation through PayPal. Both are most appreciated. You can use the Donate button below. Larger donations can be made to tom@tomstirr.com through PayPal.
Word of mouth is the best form of endorsement. If you like our website please let your friends and associates know about our work. Linking to this site or to specific articles is allowed with proper acknowledgement. Reproducing articles, or any of the images contained in them, on another website or in any social media posting is a Copyright infringement.
Article and images are Copyright 2021 Thomas Stirr. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or adaptation of any kind is allowed without written consent. If you see this article reproduced anywhere else it is an unauthorized and illegal use. Posting comments on offending websites and calling out individuals who steal intellectual property is always appreciated!