[mou] Swans

[Carl Greiner]

Hi all,
	I took my 2 yr. old to see the Eagles in Wabasha today and of course cut
through Whitewater WMA on the way. First pool coming out of Elba on 74 there
were 2 swans way in the back of the pool maybe 200 yards away. I put the
scope to them and would have definately called them trumpeter's last month
before the latest Loon came out. Now since the Birding by Hindsight, a
Second Look at Swans article I have no clue whether these were Tundra or
Trumpeter. Did anyone else see them? At 200 yards without both species
present, vocalizations, feathering at the gape, forehead feathering, bill
length, nostril placement, culmen shape, crown shape, back profile, etc...
are too vague for me. I can count the number of wild swans I've seen on 1
hand. How often would you be wrong in Minnesota calling a black billed swan
without yellow lores a Trumpeter and with yellow lores a Tundra.  I guess
they are all swan spp. unless its July or August. What do you all use to
differentiate the two? There were also ring-necked duck, mallard, c goose, b
eagles 3 adults 3 immature and a nest, belted kingfisher, am wigeon, a lone
common merganser, a gorgeous pair of green-wing teal, redtail hawk, and
normal contingency of rock pigeons, a grackle, robins, crows, and starlings.

Carl Greiner
cgreiner@millcomm.com