....................Thank you for the concerned comments. The 10 Swan I
saw landed on the south end of the viewing area ---south of the road.
They had the identifying high-pitched mellow bugling calls of Tundra
Swans (...hoo-ho-hoo!!!) and were smaller in size. Tundra Swans are very
common in this area in winter.
.....................Trumpeter Swans are also present, but not in large
numbers. They may have truly been present, I didn't see any on River-S
unit on this Sun. trip. Some large swans were seen on the south end of
the lake on the north side of the road leading to maintenance shops, but
since this is not part of the auto tour route--and thus off limits I was
unable to see what was further up the lake behind the trees.
....................Finally the area of Ridgefield NWR visited was *not *
specified---There is the south end(Ridgeport Dairy Unit) accessed from
Vanc. along Lower River Rd.(....Trumpeter Swans have been seen
frequently on Post Office Lake). There is River- s unit south of
Ridgefield. and....there is the area north of the town of Ridgefield
that has the hiking trail and so forth.
...................I think the issue here seems to be one of exactly
specifying *what* area of Rigefield NWR these swans were observed.
And....if the swans are silent, identification at a distantance can be
difficult.
...................Thanks again for the interest and good questions.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Swans at Ridgefield
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:20:29 -0800
From: Guttman, Burt <GuttmanB at evergreen.edu>
Reply-To: GuttmanB at evergreen.edu
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu



I notice that Gerald Hamilton reported visiting Ridgefield NWR on the 23rd
and seeing 10 Tundra Swans, while Peter Sullins and Gene Stone reported
visiting on the 22nd and seeing 50 Trumpeter Swans. :-) May I suggest that
the two parties get together and discuss their observations? Methinks
someone--perhaps more than one someone--needs some help with swan
identification.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 360-456-8447
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S.E., Olympia 98503