Friday, June 6, 2008

Royals and commoners

I was delighted to learn that my beloved Swan is quite famous.The Trumpeter Swan. According to Mike, it is the biggest Swan in the world and not distributed very widely. He was thrilled to see it, partly because he might not ever see one again. I think he will, because he will be traveling here for a while.It was an honor for me to show Mike, who's form Scotland, this Royal bird. Thanks. Since that evening, of June 4, I have learned that indeed The Trumpeter Swan only exist in North America and was almost extinct in the thirties.And what else I didn't know, is that they do congregate around Whitehorse, they apparently don't stay there to nest.Our birds here (100 km. from Whitehorse) appear to sit on a platform, but their behavior doesn't reveal if they are actually nesting.

I did also want to show Mike a nest of another American bird, possible the most common one, the Dark-eyed Junco.(the nest Alexander found) I was equally thrilled, that when we peeked in the nest, there were some black balls in it. Babies. I allow myself to peek in once a day. The parents are no where to be seen, they must know my presence long before I can spot the nest site. Yesterday the tiny birds had some feathers (beginnings of such).And today they looked like baby birds with little yellow beaks. What honor again, to be able to watch this unfold.

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