I did not expect to find many birds at Potter Marsh today and thought there might not be any birds around. Although the sky was beautiful, it was dark and cloudy at 2 pm and looked like more rain was coming. There was less ice near the boardwalk due to the warm (up to about 38 degrees) weather and the recent rain. I was delighted to find that there were two Common Mergansers swimming up the stream beside me as I walked along the boardwalk and then as I walked back, they swam back along with me.
There were a couple of distant Black-billed Magpies, two perched Bald Eagles in the vicinity of their summer’s nest and a single fly-by Common Raven.
No other ducks were visible from the boardwalk and I expected there would be none visible if I drove the road along the marsh, but you never know. I was right about the ducks, but to my surprise, I found that there was a lone swan out in the marsh away from the boardwalk. I had thought they all had left, but not so. Most swans that stop at Potter Marsh are Trumpeter Swans, but I’m thinking this lone swan is a Tundra Swan. Comments welcome. Whatever it is, it is unlikely to be around long. Soon normal winter temperatures will return and there will be no open water out in the marsh away from the boardwalk and the swan is very likely to be gone.
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Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 