Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2022

41°F, wind SE @ 4 mph and mostly sunny. I was facing mostly west but a bit toward the north and the sun was coming from the SW. It was on my left.

Kowa TSN-884 88mm Straight Prominar Flourite Spotting Scope, 20x60 zoom eyepiece

This is my 7th time seeing at least 1 Trumpeter Swan in VT.

Maquam Bay on Lake Champlain with shallow enough water depth to let these 4 swans feed near tall grass sticking out of the water. There were Common Goldeneyes & Bufflehead feeding nearby as well.

All 4 birds were mostly feeding with their heads and necks submerged and were also gently paddling back & forth while doing so. One did a standing flap.

I did not hear any sounds coming from the swans.

I spotted all 4 of them together and was able to get really great looks at them through my scope. They were completely white (except for their bills & eyes) and very large birds. I looked at each bird carefully and saw that they all showed black lores (with no yellow in them) at least as wide as their eyes (not pinched), a distinct V-shape at the base of their bills where they meet the foreheads (not a U-shape) and a fairly straight line along the edge of their bills, between their eyes and gapes.

Very large all white birds with big bodies and very long necks.

The head, face, throat nape & neck were completely white. The tops of their heads did show a very slightly darker tone on them. Perhaps they were stains from feeding. . .

I never saw the legs or feet on any of these birds during my observation. Their bills were all black and showed a V-shape at the base of the bill where it meets the forehead. Their black lores were at least as wide as their black colored eyes. There was a fairly straight line along the side of their bills between their eyes and gapes.

Their upper backs were all white.

Their lower backs & rumps were all white.

Their wings were long, wide and all white.

Their breasts, bellies, flanks and undertail coverts were all white.

Their tails were all white and short.

Tundra Swan would be the one swan to eliminate as a possibility comparing them to these 4 Trumpeter Swans. Tundra would have been much smaller (14.4 lbs vs 23 lbs).
Tundra would have also shown a U-shape at the base of the bill where it meets the forehead, pinched lores that would not be as wide as the eye and a more curved edge of the side of the bill between the eye and gape (curved mostly near the gape). An adult Mute Swan can be easily eliminated because it would have an orange colored bill with a black knob. An adult Whooper Swan can also be easily eliminated because it would have bright yellow at the base half of the bill with a black tip half of the bill.

All 4 birds appeared to be adults because they were all white with black bills. Younger birds would have shown grayish coloration and a bi colored bill. I was able to make an accurate ID in the field but also used my photos to assist in m y descriptions. On 12/4/22 I added 2 more photos to help confirm the ID, which showed the V-shape at the base of the bill and the lores being at least as wide as the eye.