Folks

Gwen and I had a discussion last night about potential Trumpeter Swan seen 
January 1, 2005 at Black Hills Regional Park, Montgomery County, MD.  She 
was not happy with the species identification as reported.  We discussed it 
and agree that this bird may not be a pure Trumpeter Swan for the following 
reasons.  This species is a tough call and our comments might be useful to 
those who are considering listing this bird on your Maryland list.

Our thoughts :

We saw a swan at Black Hills Regional Park today.  I tried to get some 
useful photos, but the bird reported as a Trumpeter Swan was too far for 
very useful images.   We had nothing to compare the size with (no other 
swans were present), so size was not useful.  The birds neck was thick and 
did not appear that long, but I don't know how useful this information is on 
a single bird either.  We saw no yellow bill spot, but I don't think this 
field mark is diagnostic (to make this bird a Trumpeter Swan).  The back was 
rounded, but compared to Tundra I could not say for sure it was a Trumpeter. 
The  important feature is the shape and size of the bill at any distance. 
We did not see the base of the bill as well as we would have cared, but Gwen 
and I thought it was "U" - shaped or almost straight across, not the "V" 
shape as sometimes described as helpful for identifying Trumpeter Swan. 
Also, the bill was not obviously large as would be expected on a pure 
Trumpeter Swan.  I think this feature can be seen in the poor quality image 
I took.  We continue to have doubts about the origin of this species.

If Fran is interested I could send her the image (not very good) and the 
image could be viewed on MDBirds.   I sent the image to Phil Davis (sec. of 
the records committee) and several others thoughtful and careful birders for 
consideration and comment.

I hope this helps those thinking about the species of this bird.

George