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30 Nov 1991 at White Lake, Lower Klamath NWR, SIS |
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30 Nov 1991 at White Lake, Lower Klamath NWR, SIS |
The WHOOPER SWAN is a very rare vagrant anywhere in North America, and only a very few have reached California. Indeed, it is possible that some records in California at different sites in succeeding years could be the same swan returning; an adult was seen with young one winter. All records are from the Klamath Basin or the Central Valley with flocks of Tundra Swan in winter.
All of my California records are listed below. Those preceded by H were found or co-found by me personally; those preceded by K receive some partial credit (e.g., I was involved in sorting out i.d. of a previously discovered bird or refound a vagrant that had been thought to have left).
These are my personal WHOOPER SWAN records:
30 Nov 1971 White Lake, Lower Klamath NWR, SIS 1 adult; full details in my notes but I reproduce a field sketch and show a distant photo (above). This bird was a 'stake-out' that Rita & I chased. It was while viewing this bird that we discovered a previously unknown pair of Trumpeter Swans!See the family page for county abbreviations. All photos & text © 2003 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.