There were a couple dozen mute swans at the West Pond of Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Monday morning. I setup on the south side of the pond on the dam that is also the trail in a spot we call the runway as the birds fly in and out at low altitude in this location when we get a southern wind which is very common because of the proximity to the south shore Atlantic coast and the temperature difference between the ocean and land that creates wind. The swans were very active swimming from side to side of the large pond which is about 1/2 mile in diameter. I spotted a pair of swans coming in from the west and followed them as they flew over the pond turned passing close to me before putting down in the bay to my left.
