Jeanette photographing swans
Rainy days have forced us to do our birding from the van. It's warm and dry inside the van. You sit up much higher than in the car, making it easier to spot birds. And if I'm honest, I don't have to walk, which is still a problem for me due to back pain.
Yesterday morning, we choose to visit Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge in hopes of finding some swans that Jeanette had spotted flying at a distance two days ago. Tundra Swans had been reported to eBird last week at Parvipes Marsh. Most of the Refuge is closed off for breeding birds from Oct 1 through March 31, so you can't really hike there to get a look at them. You can, however, get a distant view of Parvipes Marsh from Smithfield Road. This was our plan, and the photo at the top shows Jeanette doing her best to get a photo from that great distance.
Below is one of the photos showing 6 of the 26 swans she was able to count. Notice the tall swan on the right, which presents a dilemma for us. Could it be a Trumpeter Swan? The trouble is that no one has reported a Trumpeter this season this far South yet. The smaller Tundra Swans arrive here from the North earlier than the Trumpeters. The closest Trumpeters that have been spotted so far this year are at Ridgefield NWR in Washington. Do we get bold, and risk being corrected?
