Thursday, December 3, 2020
Having come to a break in my morning project at home, I decided to scroll through emails prior to lunch. Well!! Thank you, Lindsay Story, for broadcasting on the rare bird alert about the TRUMPETER SWAN you saw near the dam at Granite Reef Rec Area this morning along the Salt River. Skipping lunch for the moment, I grabbed my gear, headed out the door and took the "quick" way to Granite Reef.
Once there, I hoofed it quickly to the spot from which to view it, although I checked at most clearings out to the water to be sure I wasn't passing it by.
Sure enough! At the access to view the dam, a birder with a scope allowed me a good look at it enabling me to find some location markers for photographs. With a bird that big, you would think that was no problem but since I use the view finder, it can be problematic for me. The camera found the large swan easily. Although it breeds in s.e.Alaska and the s. Yukon, the Trumpeter can be seen in our most northern states this time of year. There is an introduced species in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest populations that will move south in winter to Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois...and sometimes farther south. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.
Local top-notch birders are giving all our photos of this handsome swan a scientific once-over to be sure it is not a hybrid. If they decide it is (I don't think so), I'll add more to this post later.
TRUMPETER SWAN prefers freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers in marshland and forests. It's often among other ducks and, interestingly enough, habitually accompanied by AMERICAN COOT. Although it's GADWALL in my photos, the AMERICAN COOT was nearby. I first saw a Trumpeter at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area in Oak Harbor, Ohio, on a circle around the country in my RV in 2002. It was early summer when we reached the famous birding Marsh but then, I didn't know it was such a hot spot. I pulled off because it was marshy wildlife area! I was looking out on many empty areas when a Ranger stopped by to tell me about the Trumpeter and proceeded to get it in the spotting scope for us to look at. Very distant photo that time; not sure I saved it. But I got a great view of it. Because Whistling Swan (now Tundra Swan) came by the hundreds and thousands into Virginia's Back Bay Wildlife Area about an hour's drive from home, I was very familiar with it and could easily see the differences in this much larger swan.
Considering my unusual time constraints, I was out and back with photos (without a long time watching the big bird) in just over an hour! Not my preferred manner of birding anymore, but so it goes.
Easily recalled the birds I saw along the way to the TRUMPETER SWAN to create a list, but took only one other photo at the picnic area close to the parking lot. A GREATER ROADRUNNER stood there like, "You're not going to take MY picture?" Of course, I am.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S77022177
Friday, December 4, 2020
As I was leaving the TRUMPETER SWAN yesterday, I passed a birder coming toward me. I assured him the Swan was still at the dam. He quickly mentioned that two LONG-TAILED DUCK had been seen at Coon Bluff. Couldn't do it then, but got away early this morning...no rush.
Arriving at 7:15 or so, I was surprised to see the temperature had dropped from 40 (at home) to 24°F at the Salt River!! (Usually 10° cooler) Dressed in layers and with no wind, I again took off at a faster-than-birding stroll toward the known location for the two ducks, 0.5 miles from the end of the fencing along the recreation area. Going fast would keep me warm and, besides few birds were out and about. Farther out into Tonto National Forest, I got waylaid with reddish birds that were not house finch. OMG! Nine or ten WESTERN BLUEBIRD were flitting around a willow and tamarisk and finding snags to perch up in the morning sun. The male is in the middle photo; a female above and below it, very fluffed against the cold.
Thank goodness my camera was working at this temperature! As I turned away from the bluebirds, two men came toward me at a fast clip. I just said, "I got waylaid!" And, fell in step behind them because they had a GPS location for our hunted bird, LONG-TAILED DUCK. They were going very fast; I didn't need to keep up with them; didn't want to. But did easily find them when I arrived at an opening farther up river. The young man had an awesome camera and even laid down in the damp mud to get some good pics. Wow! Not me, today. I was hoping to hold the camera still in the cold. Not shivering, but my hands, in fingerless gloves, were icy cold. Below are two photos I took of the female LONG-TAILED DUCK as each dove and surfaced, sometimes close together; sometime far apart, but always at least half-way or farther across the Salt River.
Photos for eBird must be good enough for identification and these are fine for that, although they are not great. The female has a dark cheek patch on its white face and that is the ID going for it in the photos above, plus size, shape, etc. My first sighting of this species was at my favorite birding spot near home (in Hampton, Virginia) -- Grandview! It was a great place to walk on a curve of land that revealed Scoter out in the Chesapeake Bay and "Old Squaw" (now Long-tailed Duck) when I walked all the way to the tip of the curve where a water channel flowed out into the bay.
On this cold morning, it was easy to remember what birds I had seen or heard on my trek out and back from the rare LONG-TAILED DUCK. Temperature had warmed to 35°F by the time I was back in the car after a little over an hour of walking and taking pictures and watching the ducks. Nice pre-holiday rarities were a delightful gift!
Enjoy!!
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S77047565
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