Are the swans I saw this evening near dusk at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Genesee County, New York Tundra Swans? There were two wing banded white adults (yellow tags on each wing of both) with 6 adult-sized juvenile/yearlings that were very dusky colored.

They were resting and feeding at the south edge of the Cayuga pool in front of the parking lot - observed at a distance with my long telephoto lens.

My images for documentation and ID reference for the photo session are in this Flickr album.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmru7ed4

Is it safe to assume they were seasonal migrants on a rest stop here before moving further to the Atlantic Coastal area to overwinter? That refuge is 40 miles east of Lake Ontario.

Hard telling when and where they were captured and tagged with those wing bands. From my experience over the years all tagged waterfowl were marked with numerical coded metal leg bands.

Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Jonathan

They were identified as Trumpeter Swans that have been in that marsh complex area for nearly two weeks.

Jonathan

Looks like it was banded in Ontario. Go to Trumpeterswansociety.org. It lists all the colors,locations,etc of the bands.

Great Photos Jonathan, ou812 good link for more information!

Thank you for the comments and net link.

Jonathan

Thanks for sharing these pics and information.

Interesting that around the 1800's there was yearly 60,000 Trumpters swan wings and capes sent back to Britian through the HBC. this lead to the near extinction of the Trumpers in North America. All for the powder puss that were SO FASHIONABLE at the time. The specimens were worth more than a beaver hide for many years.