Trumpeter Swans

[Rootchopper]

I’ve been riding the Mount Vernon Trail for over 20 years. I’ve seen bald eagles, assorted herons and egrets, ducks and geese by the score, snapper turtles and even a crawdaddy, but today was the first time I’ve seen trumpeter swans in the river. There were several pair to the south of Dyke Marsh.

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[skreaminquadz]

Just wiki’d the Trumpeter Swan. Very pretty bird. Looks like they’re relatively rare in this area, at least based on wiki. Wish I was better at bird identification.

[7rider]

Very cool indeed. But I’ve only ever heard of a few Trumpeters up in West Virginia. You sure they weren’t overwintering Tundra swans?

[Joe Chapline]

Were there seven of them a-swimming? Happy holidays.

[skreaminquadz]

@Joe Chapline 1568 wrote:

Were there seven of them a-swimming? Happy holidays.

Ha – well played Mr. Chapline!

[Rootchopper]

I’m no birder. They could have been tundra swans.

[Mark Blacknell]

Mute Swan, is my guess. Look similar to Trumpeter Swans, and are indigenous to the area.

(And by “guess”, I mean that I’m reading off the “DC Area Bird Identification Card’ I bought the other day b/c I thought I should try to move beyond calling everything smaller than a pigeon a “sparrow.” )

[Rootchopper]

Mark

Mute swans have orange beaks. These swans have black beaks. So they are either trumpeter or tundra swans. Then again, what the hell do I know. It’s a bird. It’s big. It’s in the river. And it’s not normally there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rootchopper/5288796666

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