Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2021

Clear, with light breeze.

Zeiss 10x42 binoculars

I had seen and heard one near Magee Marsh in Ohio. I'm from a family of brass players so I have a very discerning ear when it comes to recognizing "trumpeting". This spring I also came across a trumpeter swan that briefly put in an appearance on L. Lamoille in Morrisville, VT, May 6. CHECKLIST S87235126 I had a good long look at that bird thru my spotting scope (Swarvski 20-60power). I had a chance to really study the shape of the bill, the extent of orange color on the head and down the neck, and the shape of the black area between the eye and the base of the bill.

Large wetland complex with long straight stretches of open water, allowing easy take off for large, heavy birds. Sandhill cranes were also heard in this habitat on this day.

Bird was flying directly toward me low over the water, about .1 miles away. As it approached it flew beside me about 50 feet away. It then circled back around on the other side of my kayak position and made a second pass. It was gaining altitude until the second pass, and then flew straight south and gradually decreased it altitude, disappearing behind distant cattails.

On its second pass above me, it trumpeted twice. A well named bird as its vocalizations really do sound like a brass instrument. When I got home later that day, I played the vocalizations of both trumpeter and tundra swans just to make sure. The tundra vocalization is much higher and lacks the resonance of the trumpeter. THere is no question in my mind that this was a trumpeter.

See entries above. I did briefly wonder if it saw my white kayak from a distance and thought I could be another swan, and came closer to check me out. It circled around me twice.

At first I thought it was a Great Egret, as it was a large white bird flying directly towards me.

As it flew by the first time, it was still low enough that I got a good look at the black extending from around the eye to the base of the bill. This black did not pinch in at all between the eye and the bill. I also did see some orange coloration on the head and face feathers, which did not extend down the neck.

Bill was all black, long and sloped.

As stated above, at first I thought it was a great egret flying towards me, but when I got my binoculars on it, it was a large white swan with a long outstretched neck, and dark short bill.