Mutes swans, lake thawing

[steven.shultz@unifi.com]

The beautiful weather today is quickly thawing many of the local ponds.  The
NCSU dairy farm is about 1/2 open water and some of the previously forced out
residents are returning.  A pair of Northern Shovelers and three Lesser Scaup
were present with the Canadas, Mallards and buffles this morning.

 A pretty sight greeted me at Lake Wheeler as I drove to the dairy farm.  Five
Mute Swans were feeding and preening in the shallow end to the north of the
Penny Road causeway.  Of course these birds are probably, but not certainly,
uncountable.  I guess Mute Swan is a difficult species in NC with the near
proximity of the expanding Delmarva population (countable) and the fact that
Mutes are kept frequently by waterfowl fanciers and as ornamental birds in
parks, etc. (uncountable)
In any case, all five birds were adults.  I guess either a) the birds are
wild/feral and moved down from the frozen tundra of the northeast, or b) someone
lost about $1000 worth of swans (price determined by a recent issue of the
Waterfowl Gazette).  I noticed on the CHBC list that there was a record of Mute
Swan in the Chapel Hill area.  Anyone know how that bird was determined to be
countable?  Might be useful in trying to sort some of the other sightings out as
well.

Have a great week!

Steve Shultz
Apex, NC
----------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which
it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.  Any
review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action
in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited.   If you received this in error, please
contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.