ML285918271

Age

Not specified

Sex

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Observation details

**rare - flock e to w over the inlet, including 6 juvs; short-necked swans with bright white plumage and black bills in the adults, and dirty white overall and dull pink bills in juvs. -including TS's thorough description for posterity "*rare and local (but not to here). single flock over the inlet e to w at around 9:33 am. an interesting observation in that Aidan Perkins had 22 of this species at approximately 7:40 am at Smith Point heading west (though apparently angling over the ocean). as such, this species was firmly on our radar for the morning. while waiting for the TUSW to potentially make it our way, Mike McBrien did some research and determined that they can fly up to 30 mph! a quick consultation with maps and charts determined the distance between the two locations to be 21 miles. given the distance between Smith Point and RMSP Field 2, we used MATH to determine that it would be approximately 42 minutes at the fastest (30 mph /21 miles * 60 minutes) for Aidan's birds to arrive (if they would at all). in any event, I mention the above because the birds we had were almost two hours past when AP had his at Smith Point! the point here is either the TUSW broke into a smaller flock and decided to fly at a mere fraction of their maximum potential, or this was a separate group. I like to imagine the latter. what I do know is that they were short-necked, short-tailed swans with black bills in the adults. a few immature birds were apparently present with more dingy plumage and perhaps paler bills. seen by numerous people. photos to come."

Technical information

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