Hi all, Apologies for not elaborating on my earlier Tundra Swan posting: this is a very early report for Tundra Swans and I rushed to get it out on the list should someone else make their way to find them.
In my traditional bout of second-guessing, and given the ID challenges between the swans, my too-limited experience with this group, and in this case my less-than-desirable position on the shoulder of the road (which didn't allow for the amount of study I would have liked), I need to step back to what I should have written originally: it was my impression is that these were immature Tundra Swans, but I really shouldn't have ruled out Trumpeter or Mute. I watched the birds for a few minutes, during which they moved around the pond quite a bit, periodically disappearing behind the vegetation lining the pond. During this time I noted their plumage appeared brownish-white and their bills were not black but pinkish, appearing brighter than the dusky color I associate with an immature Mute Swan. Their regal-like posture -- holding their head high on straight necks - also made me think Tundra/Trumpeter. The profile and shape of the head and bill seemed more akin to Tundra than Trumpeter, but I realize this is a very difficult separation, one that I shouldn't make on these birds. There were no other birds on or near the pond, in fact, I've never noticed birds down there, so I wasn't able to make any meaningful size comparison. I hope someone is able to re-find the birds and provide a more substantive identification, regardless which species they are it's an interesting sighting. I'll be on the lookout on my way home this evening. (Note to self: travel somewhere to watch swans more often.) Cheers, Mike -- Mike Powers Horseheads, NY On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Riko Stan <rikos...@gmail.com> wrote: > That's funny. I also saw a few Tundra swans on the south end of Sodus Bay, > just north of Ridge Road. Mute swans are fairly common on East bay, but > these are the first Tundra swans I have seen in my admittedly short birding > life. > > > On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 11:30 AM, Mike Powers <noflicks...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> This morning on my drive to work I observed two immature Tundra Swans on a >> small wetland just south of Ithaca, at the T-intersection of Cox Road and >> Rte. 13 in Newfield. This seemed like an early sighting for Tundra Swans, >> and a quick check in eBird showed only a handful of October sightings in >> NY. The majority of reports are from the last week of October, and there >> are no October reports from Tompkins county. >> >> Good birding, >> Mike >> >> -- >> Mike Powers >> Horseheads, NY >> > > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
