Here is an excerpt from an email I got from a friend who is a novice birder:

>>While working in the yard yesterday, I saw some what I think are cranes
out over the Sound, but they flew past before I could get upstairs and get
my binoculars, so I couldn't make any sort of identification except that
there was a loose formation, they were flying north and they were white. Too
far away for the naked eye to get more detail. What caught my attention were
their calls. Unlike any other birds I've heard around here. Very loud.

I surmised that these were swans, for lack of a better theory, but would be
surprised to learn that they are around here this time of year. Do
non-breeders arrive this early? Do any hang around for the summer? Has
anyone seen anything fitting this description along the eastern side of the
Sound? (He lives in Shoreline, which is where I'm assuming he saw these.)
I'd be happy to get a plausible competing theory, but none of the other
possibilities that suggested themselves to me work any better.



Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA