Troy Corman
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Trumpeter Swan near Camp Verde
Because of private property issues, four Trumpeter Swans discovered on the Camp Verde CBC on 30 December were not disclosed to the general birding
public. Of the original 4 swans, 1 had a neck collar with an identification number. Based on that information, it was found that this swan was 1.5
years old and had been captured as a large cygnet in Idaho and moved to another lake in Idaho. It seems some of these birds are getting a little
disoriented and heading further south than normal. During the past five or so years, the Arizona Bird Committee has been wrestling with the few
documented individuals and small groups that have appeared in AZ, because many of these are obviously semi-human assisted
Around noon today, 11 January, I relocated one of the uncollared Trumpeter Swans on another small ranch lake near Camp Verde. Again it is on private
property, however, this time it can be viewed at a distance from U.S. Forest Service Land. Even though the view is a little distant, key field marks
such as head and bill shape and color can be determined from this vantage point with many of the top of the line spotting scopes. For those
adventurous souls, here are the lengthy directions to this location:
Travel east out of Camp Verde on Hwy. 260 crossing the Verde River. Continue east and just after crossing West Clear Creek, take your first right
which will be Big Valley Drive. This is a short road and ends at a "T" intersection with Chino Dr. Go right on Chino Dr.
For the next mile, this road makes a number of turns and changes from Chino Drive to Creek View, then finally to Clinton Lane. Just stay on the main
road. At the stop sign, you will be at the intersection of Clinton Lane and Lazar Road. Take a right on Lazar Road and follow it a short way and watch
for Arizona Ave. coming in on your left. Follow Arizona Ave. through a cattle guard at which point this road enters U.S. Forest Service land (open
mesquite grassland) and becomes dirt. From the cattle guard, continue on the well graded road for nearly 0.5 miles at which point you will come to a
"Y" intersection. At this intersection you will see where locals have been target practicing. Take the right dirt road for 0.6 miles and watch for a
small dirt 2-track on your left. Follow this a very short distance to the end. You will be able to easily see the small ranch lake to the west and
below you. From where you park, you can walk a little closer down to the fence line, which I assume divides the private property from the Forest
Service land. Since you will be looking toward the west, morning to early afternoon would be best. Also on the lake were about 120 Canada Geese (which
were amazingly dwarfed by the swan), 1 Snow Goose, and a handful of ducks.
Good Luck
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Webster
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The one marked swan in Camp Verde is neck-banded; 41E.
Lauri Hanauska-Brown, Wildlife Biologist with Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game comments;
Leg bands are useful, but collars are absolutely necessary to monitor bird movements. Neck bands do on occasion fall off, but it is highly unlikely
that this has
happened with the other adults in this group. My 'guess' is that when we
trapped and moved 41E we separated her from the family group. Although we
did move other cygnets with 41E, they may or may not have been siblings.
41E obviously 'hooked up' with other birds sometime during the summer or
fall. One of the uncollared birds may be a potential mate for 41E but
trumpeters usually do not pair bond until their third or fourth winter...it's tough to say. A more likely possibility is that 41E has joined either
it's old family group that has a new cygnet or a new family group (pair + cygnet). Obviously I am just speculating here. Oddly enough two of the
birds that wintered with 41E last winter are back in southern Idaho near the areas they were released. We can only speculate about the relation of
those two birds as well.
We do not know where most of the cygnets we collared last year spent the summer.
The Canada population of trumpeters seems to be doing well (i.e., good productivity). The tri-state population of trumpeters has not been doing so
well (i.e. very low productivity).
Cygnet 86E wintered near Yuma last year. 86E was a cygnet captured at Harriman State Park (where all the cygnets were captured) and moved to the Bear
River in southeast Idaho. We have not been able to locate 86E or heard that it was back in Arizona...still holding our breath. So, you may continue
to see birds in AZ, particularly if some of these collared birds mate and bring back their own cygnets.
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budjhnsn
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Trumpeter Swan
If anyone has looked for the swan, a post would be appreciated -- either positive or negative results. Thanks
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Roger
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indications are that at least some of the swans seen earlier at Kachina Wetlands (link) were Trumpeters as well.
So even if the Camp Verde birds are not relocated, there are perhaps two groups wintering in the state...
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Mark Stevenson
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Trumpeter Swans
And an addiitonal group (all neck-banded Trumpeters) at Cibola NWR on the AZ-CA border.
Unfortunately, one of those swans was "harvested" and left behind unused.
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budjhnsn
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Swan
As of 9:30 Saturday morning the Trumpeter swan was on the stock pond by Camp Verde per Troy Corman's directions.
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Mark Stevenson
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Camp Verde Trumpeter Swan
There are continuing reports of this swan thru Monday 1/20 on the AZ-NM bird list.
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Mark Stevenson
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Camp Verde Trumpeter
Dick Palmer and Rich Ditch independently reported seeing it again this am.
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Tom Linda
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Trumpeter Swan
Deb and I stopped by the swan site this afternoon and had good looks at it both in the water and out. Looks much Trumpetier in the water. Thanks for
the peerless directions!
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elaine
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Trumpter Swan near Camp Verde
The swan seems to enjoy sharing the farmer's pond with 4 Canada geese. They are only 1/3 the size. Has anyone seen the swan feeding in the pond?
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Mark Stevenson
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trump swan continues; shorter route
Hi Ho!
The Trumpeter Swan was snoozing at 0930 this AM on the designated pond.
We shaved off some miles and time by turning right on Verde Lakes Dr, well before West Clear Creek, then following the same directions from where
Verde Lakes Dr intersects Clinton Lane.
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Tom Fry
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Gary Romig, Ingrid Sulich and I made the trek to see the swan, and there it was indeed, feeding happily in the company of 4 geese and a smattering of
ducks. This was about 4-4:30pm.
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BillHiggins
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The Trumpeter Swan was already on the pond when I arrived there at 8:30 this morning. I posted at 1:17 PM so I must have registered incorrectly!
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