Rare Bird, Greeley CO

[Julie R.]

Hello!

February 17th, 2012 between 11:30a - 12:50p

In Greeley, CO is Bittersweet Park with a large body of water right
next to it. Among all of the geese was a solitary swan. I was so
excited to see a swan that I walked around the water to see better. It
had a bright orange bill with a black bump close to the face, black
around it. There was no black on the rest of the bill at all, the neck
was a little dirtier than the rest of the body, but that I attribute
to its consistent foraging with rear in air.

There was another viewer with me who confirmed the orange bill and
dark front of face. Unfortunately I did not have binoculars or a
camera with me since it was so out of the blue to walk to this park.

Going through the few swans we have we are very sure that what we saw
was a Mute Swan and not a Tundra or Trumpeter. It was still there when
I left around 1:00p and I'm hoping it may hang around for others to
confirm.
I have double-checked several times and looked through many book
references to support my sighting.

I strongly believe it to be a solitary Mute Swan.


Julie Rouse
Fort Collins, CO