I have posted more photos in a new sub-folder of my inbox
http://www.pbase.com/idiot4cricket/swans_bender_rd

When we first arrived, only the Trumpeter (??) was standing with head
up. (Pic 1)
The other 2 had heads tucked. (Pic 2)
I also added a couple more face shots and a size comparison.

Picture 1 further complicates the ID of the Trumpeter. There is a curve
at the gape. The full face (Pic 4) shows a pretty straight boarder at
the top of the bill.
The size comparison (pic 5) looks like the one you ID'ed as a Trumpeter
is a little bit bigger. Is that enough?

Swans are really tough for me to parse. I think I would say there are 2
Tundras and 1 Trumpeter but I could be convinced that there are 3 Tundras.

Cricket
birdnerd at inlandwireless.com
Cle Elum WA


On 12/16/12 5:04 PM, Scott Downes wrote:
>
> I guess I should have taken a longer view of all the swans this
> morning. Thanks Cricket for your excellent photos. These Swans seem to
> be able to morph. I didn't even look at the larger swan as it had been
> identified as a Trumpeter and was noticably bigger than the other two
> next to it. In these photos, the three appear to be the same size.
> Though, can't really tell size well I guess from a bird a little
> farther back and it's back facing away. My take--
> --Left swan is a classic Tundra with round head, shorter curved bill,
> yellow at base of the bill, round angle where bill meets forehead and
> a curve at the gape of the bill.
> --Middle swan also has round head, curve at gape of bill, slightly
> longer bill and less curved (less concave), appears to be very small
> amount of yellow in front of eye (when I lightened photo). This is the
> bird that I had called a Tundra this morning.
> --Right swan is now puzzling me (called it Trumpeter this morning
> strictly based on size, noticably bigger than other two-head was
> tucked). The bill seems longer, straighter. The biggest things
> troubling me now are that the size difference doesn't seem as extreme
> as I saw this morning between this one and the other two and this bird
> seems to have a round head associated with Tundra and not the blocky
> head of a Trumpeter. It's probably just due to a weird angle, but
> would love to see other photos of these guys if they stick around.
> Scott Downes
> downess at charter.net <mailto:downess at charter.net>
> Yakima WA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Cricket <mailto:birdnerd at inlandwireless.com>
> *To:* birdkitt at yahoogroups.com <mailto:birdkitt at yahoogroups.com>
> *Cc:* Scott Downes <mailto:downess at charter.net> ;
> tweeters at u.washington.edu <mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 16, 2012 4:24 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [birdkitt] re: Ellensburg Snowy Owl and Teanaway
> Redpoll follow-up
>
> I did not go far enough out Reeser Creek to see the Owl but I did
> locate the Swans. I have posted some of my photos.
> http://www.pbase.com/idiot4cricket/inbox
> The photos labeled Left, Right and Middle are tighter cropped
> versions of the photo of all three. I defer to other experts the
> identification job. I simply submit the photos.
>
> Cricket Webb
> birdnerd at inlandwireless.com
> Cle Elum WA.
>
>
> On 12/16/12 3:52 PM, Scott Downes wrote:
>> Just returned home from a wonderful day of birding. Saw Walter's
>> post as well on the update. It is a young bird, it is also
>> probably a male but am not willing to fully call it that. I've
>> placed a heavily cropped photo on my Flickr page:
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/52299853 at N08/
>> As you can see in the photo, the bird has extensive barring on
>> the breast. I agree with Walter that the bib is extensive. Holt
>> in his recent paper commented that bib is usually reliable, but
>> in extreme cases females can also have an extensive bib. From
>> what I saw of the tail, it looked to be minimally streaked which
>> would point towards male. Based on these traits, I'd say it was a
>> young male, though it might possibly be a young female. Would
>> love to hear others opinion on sex of the bird.
>> The swans found by Phil Mattocks and Steve Hall yesterday on the
>> CBC were present on what is now a frozen pond on Bender Road just
>> east of intersection with Reecer Creek. There was some confusion
>> yesterday over the identify of a third bird. Based upon the looks
>> I got this morning just after first light, there were 1 Trumpeter
>> Swan and 2 Tundra Swans. I called the third bird a Tundra based
>> on small size (same size as other Tundra next to it), shorter
>> bill than the Trumpeter, some yellow in front of eye and shorter
>> dish shaped bill than the Trumpeter.
>> More on the Teanaway Redpolls-- this morning I located three
>> flocks of Common Redpolls on North Fork Teanaway Road between MP
>> 7 and 11. For those not familiar with area, take HWY 970 east
>> from Cle Elum, turn left onto Teanaway Rd. In a few miles this
>> forks into West Fork (left) and North Fork. Stay on the North
>> Fork. The redpoll flock with the Hoary was about 1/4 mile north
>> of this intersection, coming down to the road to feed on road grit.
>> In addition to the larger flock of about 150 birds than contained
>> the Hoary Redpoll, the other flocks were much more flighty and
>> each contained 50-60 birds. I was able to search the flock near
>> MP 11 thoroughly and determine they were all Common Redpoll. The
>> other flock, closer to MP 10 flew quickly upon initial discovery
>> and couldn't find the birds again when I came back down the road.
>> I viewed the Hoary Redpoll off and on for about 15
>> minutes-totaling about 2 minutes of actual observation time. The
>> birds wouldn't allow for approach closer than about 50 yards, so
>> photos weren't possible. I tried to call the Hoary closer by
>> playing it's call. This was more on a lark as the two calls are
>> fairly similar and it was unlikely that the Hoary would respond.
>> As I figured, three birds did come much closer but they were all
>> male Commons. I'll submit further details to Ebird and the WBRC.
>> Brief details are that it is a male, so very pale pink breast and
>> only upper breast. The bird has a single slim streak on the
>> undertail coverts (visible if you can get it zoomed in) and it
>> can also be picked out by quite a bit of white in the secondaries
>> and coverts.
>> I did call a couple of people known to be in the area and that
>> area will be covered tomorrow on the CBC, so perhaps it will be
>> refound. As I said in my earlier email, it took me 40 minutes to
>> find the bird, so patience is probably needed in a flock this size.
>> Scott Downes
>> downess at charter.net <mailto:downess at charter.net>
>> Yakima WA
>
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