Three large white birds dominated the dull gray day. First seen on the
island at Wilck's Lake, these three birds swam over to the beach behind the
library. The MUTE SWAN, a hard bird to find around here, was easily
identified by the bright orange bill. The other two swans were immature,
and I originally thought they were just Mute Swans as well. Mike Stinson
checked them out later in the day and identified them as TRUMPETER SWANS.
Going through photos later, I found one showing the pointed border at the
base of the bill, distinguishing it from Tundra Swan. They were not present
yesterday, and took off a little before sunset just after Mike observed
them.
This is the first county record for Trumpeter Swan.
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/65924095@N06/
Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21518109
Later stops at Sandy River Reservoir and Briery Creek Lake didn't yield
anything unusual; there were almost no other waterfowl besides RUDDY DUCKS
and BUFFLEHEAD.
Evan Spears
Farmville, VA
