Most of the waterfowl reported at Big Pool this week-end had left before 
noon today, when I walked from one end to the other. Instead was this mix:

Mute Swan 1
Can. Goose 29 (but loud enough for 2900)
G-w Teal   4
Bufflehead  9
C. Merganser 1m
H. Merganser pr

The chickadees present seemed all to be Carolina’s. A Br Creeper was 
"singing" (thanks, Siemens).

At Seneca, the White-winged and Black Scoter continue, along with many 
P-b Grebes, while 1 mile below Violette’s Lock, so do the 4 Trumpeter 
Swans. To me, even aside from the more extensive face black, this swan 
is unmistakable from its sheer size, evident even at a distance and 
without comparison species - perhaps affecting the way it rides at 
anchor? However that may be, to clinch it this pm, a Tundra Swan had 
helpfully set down nearby and looked almost puny by comparison. There 
must be nearly a 2:1 ratio in bulk.

How lucky we are to have these magnificent, rare visitors with us this 
winter! But then also - “rare” and “winter” visitor. The whole time I 
watched them, they were feeding voraciously, as indeed such large 
herbivores - the avian equivalent of elephants - must. I shuddered at 
the thought of what devastation large numbers of them could wreak on the 
summer SAV.

On leaving I stumbled across a small party of Mo MOSr’s on a field trip. 
Merely wanting to share my scope with those without one, I put it on 
some of the A Widgeons and Gadwalls they had found, a bit blase after 
the swans. To my surprise when I reached home, I discovered that despite 
so many years of birding in Mo Co, when I lived over there, I had never 
seen a Gadwall. So to paraphrase Jimmy Durante, “Thanks, Ms MOS field 
tripper, wherever you are”, for a new county bird.

Fred Fallon
Huntingtown