Good one Bill.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Bill Stent
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 9:01 PM
To: Carl Clifford; John Leonard
Cc: Birding-aus
Subject: Black Swan ads
Hmm, swans aren't aggressive birds (in my experience anyway). Any bird
might become agressive if threatened.
A few days ago I was in Kristiansand, southern Norway, and was peering
at a
group of swans at the bottom of the air strip there, trying to make out
if
they were Whooper or Mute. They were just too far away to tell, as they
held themselves like Whoopers but I couldn't see yellow bills.
Eventually
one (a juvenine) separated itself from the group adnd swam closer and
closer
to me (from a distace of about 400 metres - honestly, quite a long way).
It
struggled up the bank to where I was standing, and together we studied
the
field guide.
We eventually decided he was Mute, based on the black markings on the
bill,
which, being a juvenile, was grey. The fact that he (or she) wasn't
terribly forthcoming also suggested he was mute.
Bill (Bergen, Norway)
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