Fishing Forum

Daughter and I went fishing at Deer Creek today. Lot more ice than last time, but very thin and unsafe, and lots of open water. And we got skunked. But we got to see some trumpeter (I think!) swans, like Leaky!

We were pretty impressed, we've seen swans like that in the zoo before of course, but neither of us had ever seen them in the wild, or flying.

They flew over us pretty low, then circled the whole area about 3 and a half times--it was like they were trying to decide if the ice was open water or not, or vice versa--then they landed in the open water and sailed toward us. Unfortunately I didn't get pix of them flying but I got a few of them swimming. It was cool!

Also saw a beaver...pretty sure that's what it was, way too big to be a muskrat. With all the wildlife it was a fun time, even without fish.
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i have many pic of these swans they are tundra they was there all winter last year
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Thanks duckdog. According to the Utah waterfowl booklet they really are trumpeters, not tundras--tundras have a big yellow spot on the bill, just down from the eye, these guys have an all black bill.

[url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2011_pdfs/2011-12_waterfowl_high.pdf"]http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2011_pdfs/2011-12_waterfowl_high.pdf[/url]
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trupeters have a red spot in the same place
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[quote duckdog1us]trupeters have a red spot in the same place[/quote]

Well that's weird, then...if they aren't tundras, and they aren't trumpeters, what are they? Fun question! [cool]
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The yellow spot on a tundra isnt really that big in low light or from a distance it would be hard to see
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I'm sure you're right, but these 4 swans flew right by us--there were 3 of us there--made three full circles and a partial one, and landed and cruised right by us on the water. There was no yellow patch, large or small, on any of their beaks. The pictures are hard to see because I snapped them on my cell, in person it was much clearer. It wasn't as dark as the photos made it look.

But we didn't see any red patches, either.

According to the division of wildlife resources website, there are both tundras and trumpeters in Utah.

I guess it could be either one.
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https://www.utah-hunt.com/utswancourse/5.aspx
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