Hello All
As a few others have noted on Tweeters recently, Trumpeter Swans can be seen
in the Sumner-Alderton area now. Any day of the winter for at least the past
3 years there has been a flock that has frequented the fields near 92nd
Street (Van Ogle's Ford Rd) off Riverside Drive. The flock is rapidly
increasing every year now. In 2006-2007 the flock totaled 27 birds. Last
winter my highest count was 74, and so far this winter (on 5 January) I have
tallied 151. Interestingly, this year the ratio of young birds to adults is
much lower than in past years. On the 5th I only found 16 immature and 135
adults, while last year I had 25 immature and 49 adults). I'm not sure what
this discrepancy would mean regarding the general increase.

This year the swans have spread to other fields a bit more, including the
fields behind McAlder Elementary School, several along SR 162 and
occasionally the one just south of Hwy 410.

There are sometimes a couple Tundra Swans mixed in. Yesterday the three
Tundras in the flock stood out immediately in having a brownish-yellowish
tinge to the head and neck while all the Trumps were starkly white. Has
anyone used this to pick out Tundras before?

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington