The 2013 Annual Tundra Swan Trip

This past Saturday, we went for our annual trip to Aylmer to check out the migrating tundra swans that were re-fuelling (read: eat a lot of corn courtesy of the local conservation authority) before continuing their journey to their summer vacation spots up at the Arctic tundras.

The weather wasn’t great that day. It was grey and snowy, but we must go on! After doing a thrifting round in London, which yielded nothing, we stopped at a Denny’s for brunch before continuing our drive down to Aylmer.

It was still snowing when we got there, not to mention cold. And of course I forgot to bring my hat, scarf, and gloves. There weren’t too many visitors at the viewing stations, which was kind of nice. I spent most of my time at the ground-level viewing area, taking pictures and videos of the swans.

Walking like a boss.
Walking like a boss.

And here’s a video I made of the swans flying because I just couldn’t seem to take good still pictures of it. I blamed it on the lack of viewfinder on my camera, which I ended up buying online later that day. A viewfinder, that is. Not a new camera.

After a while, I got all tundra swanned out so we decided to head out. On our way out, we saw this sign indicating the total number of swans that day (don’t ask me how they do the counting).

I think there were actually more.
I think there were actually more.

And then we were off to downtown Aylmer to check out a thrift store! My husband parked the car in front of a dog bakery/boutique with a really drab window display showcasing some ugly fake dogs.

How much is that doggie in the window?
How much is that doggie in the window?

Okay, so this one is neither ugly nor fake. It’s just a really bored-looking dog. I’d look like that too if I had to work on a weekend doing sales.

Pretty sure he's not for sale.
Pretty sure he’s not for sale.

The dog didn’t find me very exciting at all, as you can see from the picture above. Oh well. Back to the road now. This time we headed for Port Bruce which is one of my few favourite spots by the Lake Erie. It was still snowy and windy and the water in the lake was rough and murky when we got there.

Port Bruce Pier, featuring a beacon.
Port Bruce Pier, featuring a beacon and a husband.

We went to walk on the pier where the waves were crashing along and against. One wave crashed against the side of the pier right next to me. Luckily it wasn’t a super big one or I’d get soaked, which wouldn’t have been fun considering how cold it was.

A wave breaking against the pier.
A wave breaking against the pier.

That part where we were hanging on the pier while freezing, watching the waves breaking was my favourite part of the day. My second favourite part was when we stopped at a Tim Hortons in Ingersoll and I won something through their Roll Up The Rim To Win promotion!

I'm a winner!
I’m a winner!

So it was nothing overly exciting but it was my first win ever in my almost 9 years of living in Canada so it was kind of exciting to me. Anyway, I gave my winning to my husband because he goes to Tim Hortons more often than I do.

And that’s how our last Saturday went. No plans for any day trips this weekend even though the weather is supposed to be good, which is too bad. Maybe we’ll go geocaching. It’s been a while.

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