Tweeters, Sorry for the Oregon post but it seems to take longer than I thought to subscribe to obol. I know Oregon birders monitor Tweeters and this may be of interest to Washington birders. Earlier today I was driving north on highway 99W towards Monmouth, Oregon when I noticed a pair of swans in a field where I have seen Trumpeter Swans in the past. This is just before crossing the Luckiamute River (south of the river) and just east of 99W. When I got the scope on the birds I was surprised to see that they both had almost totally yellow bills. The yellow extended from the eye over half the length of the bill ending in a point on both sides (on each bird). These birds look exactly like the Whooper Swans in my Thayer's eField Guide and in my Sibley field guide. I suppose these could be Tundra Swans with an extreme amount of yellow in the bills or they may be someone's lost Whooper Swans. Both were extremely watchful and this field is along way from any buildings. Hopefully they will stick around for someone else to check out.
Gary Fredricks
Washougal, WA
gfredricks at wa-net.com