Greetings Everyone

So, despite my best intentions to achieve a bunch of tasks today, I got side
tracked by the sun.

I was shocked to see the "Emperor Goose" field once again stuffed full of
birds. This field is on the west side of WA Route 9 just south of Snohomish.
There are a couple reasonable sized pull offs, but BE CAREFUL. Traffic is heavy
and fast and the local cops are getting nervous about quantities of birders
pulling in and out of traffic.

Anyway, I stopped to actually look for Cackling Geese. I'd searched the
several hundred swans over 5-10 times when all of a sudden a yellow billed bird
was right in front of me. A WHOOPER SWAN. Big as a Trump. Huge amounts of bright
yellow extending to a point at the nostrils. Yellow stripe underneath the
bill. I watched it and digiscoped it for about 5 minutes at about 2 pm, and then
made several phone calls. The bird had started to stroll slowly away. When I
looked for it again, it was gone. And I am pretty sure it left the field,
because even on the sleeping birds, I could see enough of the bill to be sure.
There are an equal number of swans north of Marsh Rd. Marsh Rd heads west from Hwy
9 just s. of Snohomish. Those fields traditionally have good numbers of
swans. Birds were also flying to the east in small numbers, towards the Bob Heirman
(spelling?) refuge.

I had just checked the fields between Snohomish and Short School Rd e of
Snohomish and n of the Snohomish River and seen few swans.

So, I'd check the field off Hwy 9 first. If not there, Marsh Rd. If not
there, head towards Bob Heirman. AGAIN - BE CAREFUL ABOUT TRAFFIC.

The Cacklers were there, though hard to see well. About 75 Taverner's. No GWF
Geese or Emperor. But I wouldn't be surprised if those birds are somewhere
nearby.

Cheers
Steve Mlodinow