There have been hundreds and hundreds of swans stopping down at Frank Lake over the last couple of weeks.

Both Tundra swans and Trumpeter swans.

It's quite the story of recovery as the Trumpeter swans were down to just a few hundred left in existence.

Local bird expert and caretaker of Frank Lake, Greg Wagner, says it's remarkable.

"The Trumpeters were down to less than 200 birds at one point in time about sixty to seventy years ago and have recovered quite remarkably. We'll have a thousand, fifteen hundred trumpeters now at Frank Lake."

Wagner says he counted fifteen hundred a few weekends ago.

"That's my highest count so far, but certainly it's no problem to see six, seven, eight hundred swans. You'll see them at the lake right now...but the best place to really see them is out in the fields, out in the pea fields."

It's a bit tricky telling them apart with an unskilled eye however; Tundra swans have a yellow mark at the base of the bill, a dish-shaped beak, and are generally smaller than Trumpeter swans.

Wagner says the local pelican 'Elsa' is still nesting year-round as its wing continues to heal. 

Frank Lake is just a couple of kilometres east of High River and is open to the public from April 1st to September 6th.