All About Snow Geese At Union Bay

Here is a recent post from the Union Bay Watch Blog published by Larry Hubbell, long-time local photographer and birder. 

Here also is an in-depth article about Larry and his work.


Angel Wings

When I see great white birds in flight, I think of snow. In this case it seems very appropriate because these are Snow Geese. The black wing tips are an obvious clue in their identification.

On Wednesday, for the very first time, I saw Snow Geese on Union Bay. This photo was taken while looking east from the Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA)

They were flying with a flock of Canada Geese. I had read that someone saw Snow Geese feeding on the University of Washington (UW) lawn on Tuesday. I went up and checked twice on Wednesday, without any luck. I was certainly delighted when I hiked down to the UBNA and saw the Snow Geese.

On Thursday, I heard that an egret was seen on Portage Bay. I looked for the great white bird without any luck. However, I could not resist posting these photos of the Great Egret which visited Portage Bay in 2016. I just love its intense focus on the fly.

Not matter where the fly went the egret tracked it. In this photo, I particularly like the way its long narrow bill points almost precisely at the fly.

Clearly the fly got too close for comfort.

The Great Egret reminded me of these Snowy Egrets I saw near Savannah, Georgia later in 2016. Snowy Egrets weigh less than a pound while Great Egrets weigh close to two pounds. Another obvious difference is the color of their bills. In addition, Snowy Egrets have bright yellow feet, unlike the black feet of their larger relatives.

I also saw Trumpeter Swans on Union Bay on Wednesday. The bird on the far left is using its long neck to search for food below the surface; the middle bird has some vegetation in its mouth and the swan on the right is calling out. I suppose we could say it is 'trumpeting' although I do not remember the sound as being all that loud. It seemed more like a contact call to me or at best a squeaky, half-hearted trumpeting. There were a total of ten swans on The Bay, eight adults and two young.

The two gray swans are the first year birds. It is interesting to me how small the Double-crested Cormorant, and the Gadwalls, look compared to the swans. I did not notice any Tundra Swans among the Trumpeters. By the way, Trumpeter Swans can weigh more the ten times what a Great Egret weighs.

In this 2016 photo, of a Trumpeter Swan on Union Bay, gives an even better idea of the size of the bird. The wings of a Trumpeter and a large Bald Eagle are nearly identical in length, but since the swans can weigh nearly twice as much I suspect their wings are much larger in width. When visiting the Slater Museum with Dennis Paulson, as part of our Master Birder Class, he showed us a collection of Trumpeter wings. I remember he called them, 'Angel's Wings'. That most certainly looked the part. It makes me wonder if swans inspired the whole idea of angels?