Big white birds?

[Buckmeister]

We were visiting down at the coast and driving back home today when my daughter says "What is THAT in the sky?". What she sees are 2 very large white birds with long necks. That's when I noticed about 3 different flocks of these birds sitting in the fields next to the highway. This was between Chilliwack and Abbotsford in the fields right across the highway from the new Ritchie Bros. auction site on Hwy #1. At first I thought they were swans, but swans usually have some black on them and these birds looked all white. They were about 1 1/2 times the size of a Canadian goose and about the same shape, so I'm guessing there are some kind of a goose. At any rate, I had never seen a bird quite like this before. Anybody else seen these birds and can tell me what they are so I can tell my daughter? Thanks.

[wildprotien]

Swans I think, I know a guy that does a count on the Swans and snow geese in that area .... they sure are nice to look at eh!

[SAVAGE300]

Swans,they are a problem up Island

[Pete]

Swans are all white. From the Gospel Quote " Thy shall not shoot the all white goose" They are not Albino Canada Geese.

[FLHTCUI]

They are likely Swams, either the mute Swan that is an introduced bird from the east or Trumpeters.
The Mutes ( if they where the ones you saw ) are very aggressive and prolific breeders.

Thanks for the heads up dirty and Dan6, forgot about Tundra Swans.
I was just tossing out some birds I knew of and thought google could come into play.
Thanks for the heads up and I'll know what I am looking at the next time I head out to Skinnies in Hope.
Rob

[Dirty]

They are likely Swams, either the mute Swan that is an introduced bird from the east or Trumpeters.
The Mutes ( if they where the ones you saw ) are very aggressive and prolific breeders.

I think you are wrong in this case. The ones in the valley are either Trumpeters or Tundra Swans. They are definitely swans in that field, there has been hundreds of them the past few days.

[d6dan]

I think you are wrong in this case. The ones in the valley are either Trumpeters or Tundra Swans. They are definitely swans in that field, there has been hundreds of them the past few days.


Bang on Dirty ,Trumpeters
Over here in Courtenay we have lots of them, so many some actually run into the powerlines and get fried:eek:
Supposedly we have 10% of the population wintering here.:cool:

[Dirty]

Last year there were about ~ 3-500 in one field between Whatcom Road and No. 3 Road on HIghway 1. They stayed there for weeks. After they left, the field was a mucky shit hole. Apparently they do a lot of damage because their feet are like flippers. We better open a season.

[log_roller]

We were visiting down at the coast and driving back home today when my daughter says "What is THAT in the sky?". What she sees are 2 very large white birds with long necks. That's when I noticed about 3 different flocks of these birds sitting in the fields next to the highway. This was between Chilliwack and Abbotsford in the fields right across the highway from the new Ritchie Bros. auction site on Hwy #1. At first I thought they were swans, but swans usually have some black on them and these birds looked all white. They were about 1 1/2 times the size of a Canadian goose and about the same shape, so I'm guessing there are some kind of a goose. At any rate, I had never seen a bird quite like this before. Anybody else seen these birds and can tell me what they are so I can tell my daughter? Thanks.


They are snow geese

[r106]

They are snow geese

He said all white with long neck they are swans. There are alot of them around abbotsford to chilliwack.

Snow geese have black wing tips and a shorter neck
________
Rambler Classic (http://www.dodge-wiki.com/wiki/Rambler_Classic)

[r106]

Bang on Dirty ,Trumpeters
Over here in Courtenay we have lots of them, so many some actually run into the powerlines and get fried:eek:
Supposedly we have 10% of the population wintering here.:cool:

I have also heard about them getting fryed by powerlines on the sumas flats in abbotsford. I think thats how ridgedale got the one on the wall of the club house?
________
Yamaha yz125 specifications (http://www.yamaha-tech.com/wiki/Yamaha_YZ125)

[d6dan]

Last year there were about ~ 3-500 in one field between Whatcom Road and No. 3 Road on HIghway 1. They stayed there for weeks. After they left, the field was a mucky shit hole. Apparently they do a lot of damage because their feet are like flippers. We better open a season.

They turn these farms here into shitholes too:shock:. Just like a snow does to the fields and Arctic tundra.. Eating roots of the plants.

[Salty]

There's a few (trumpeters) that winter on the Nimpkish river every year out here. Often see them around the hwy 19 bridge along either shore. When I lived up north we used to see them north of PG on the crooked river! WTF are those ones thinking? lol

[Buckmeister]

Swan's huh? WOW, I've never seen that many together before. Up where I live it is a treat to see them swimming on the river, normally just around 2 to 6 at a time. Never seen them in flight though, that was pretty cool. Kinda reminded me of a crane.

[log_roller]

He said all white with long neck they are swans. There are alot of them around abbotsford to chilliwack.

Snow geese have black wing tips and a shorter neck


Shit to admit but your right I live in chilliwack and theres a couple of dozen of them in the field behind my place I got to about 20 feet of them then my dog blew it and started barking I hate being wrong :wink:

[Jager]

Reclassify them as the elusive long necked snow goose and open a season for them.

[870]

Swan LEH???????

[kingfisher]

People who live in the lower mainland of British Columbia can not only see Lesser Snow Geese on migration, they can also observe the geese on their wintering grounds. This is because part of the large Lesser Snow Goose population that North America shares with eastern Asia winters in British Columbia’s Fraser River delta—after breeding 4 000 km away on Wrangel Island in the Soviet Arctic

Birds from Wrangel Island in Siberia fly across the Bering Strait to Alaska and down the west coast of British Columbia to major wintering areas on the Fraser River, the Skagit River in Washington, and in central California. Some, also bound for California, fly up the Mackenzie River and through Alberta.

Autumn is the season when the snow geese pass through the Fraser River Estuary. Over the course of one or two days in October wave after wave of the small white geese arrive - some 30,000 in all - in a spectacle that is sure to move even the thickest-skinned urbanite. The snow geese generally arrive in early October from Wrangel Island in the Aleutian Island chain and refuel by feasting on the buried stems of marsh plants.

Many will continue on to California much like the human variety of "snow bird" though large flocks will winter over in the Lower Mainland, moving on to the Skagit River delta in Washington state in January. By February the northward migration begins again with B.C. as the final staging area before the flight back to Siberia

[f350ps]

There used to be 30,000, more like 130,000 now. They start showing up in late Sept. and continue into the mid Oct. depending on weather. K

[dutchie]

They are snow geese

I am pretty sure the snows don't fly out that way and have not for years.

[theK.G.B]

agreed log-roller. but mayby they were thousands of tube socks caught in a wind draft. with out pics it's hard to say

They are snow geese

[Darksith]

OMG r u serious? Swans....wow I hope that was a joke by a new hunter!

[huntergirl270]

They are definitely SWANS. They are there every year for weeks at a time by the hundreds. Another place you can see them is near the Deroche general store at the bridge. There are always a few flocks hanging around there too. Used to be a lot more out there but a few guys who didn't know any better were shooting them and calling them SNOW GEESE...

[bforce750]

They are snow geese

I lived in Chilliwack for 28 years those are all trumpeter swans see them every year in the hundreds:wink:

[835]

Shit to admit but your right I live in chilliwack and theres a couple of dozen of them in the field behind my place I got to about 20 feet of them then my dog blew it and started barking I hate being wrong :wink:


he has already stated he was wrong.

[MichelD]

I was out at the foreshore with Roebuck one morning and some swans flew over us and two different parties shot at them.

Jeez. It's like the difference between a Cessna and a 747 jumbo jet for goodness sake! They have that long long neck and those long, slow looking wingbeats. And they kind of honk like an old fashioned car horn in a deep croak while snow geese almost peep they are so high-pitched.

[ROEBUCK]

I was out at the foreshore with Roebuck one morning and some swans flew over us and two different parties shot at them.

Jeez. It's like the difference between a Cessna and a 747 jumbo jet for goodness sake! They have that long long neck and those long, slow looking wingbeats. And they kind of honk like an old fashioned car horn in a deep croak while snow geese almost peep they are so high-pitched.

yeah i remember that!! they were also shooting at birds 100 metres up!!

guys like that can really piss you off on the foreshore!
,
the season before a couple of chinese guys shot a swan, flying over them about 10 yards up, my buddies and me could see what was gona happen when they flew towards them!!
ive found dead hawks,cormarants and other non target species on the marshes over here!

[Gunner]

Back in the late sixties we watched a guy shoot a swan.My hunting partner ( he shall remain nameless after all these years!),went over,took the guys gun away,and beat the living beejesus out of him. He said he was sick of watching ***holes ruin our hunting opportunities for us.I stood there with my jaw on the ground,but I guess it was effective rough justice,we never saw the guy again. Gunner

[Crazy_Farmer]

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/swan%20sign.jpg

[ROEBUCK]

but on a nother note i see no reason why there could not be a season for them !!

theres loads of em out there!!

[Crazy_Farmer]

I've been asking for a season for awhile. The problem that most dont realize if our population of swans here is a majority of Trumpeter Swans. All the states where you can shoot a swan they have a majority of Tundra Swans. And even in most of these states its rare to see a trumpeter. And almost all states have check stations where you they inspect your bird

In the mid-continent states that have seasons, where a higher chance of mistakinly shooting a trumpeter is, once you've checked in your bird, in most counties if they go over like a 3-5 bird limit of trumpeters being shot, the whole area is shutdown for any swan hunting.

I see that as a huge problem for ever getting a swan season here. Do I want one? Hell Yes. I could fill my tag every year, or get one to get mounted. But the majority of guys cant tell the difference inbetween the two and far too many trumpeters would get shot. Unless the population gets to such a high number that even the trumpeter numbers need to be lowered.

I would say for this area anyways its like a 90%-10% trumpeter to tundra swan.

[FLHTCUI]

but on a nother note i see no reason why there could not be a season for them !!

theres loads of em out there!!

If you wanna shoot swans, go to Oregon.
I think they have an Open Season on them.
There are loads of them eastern pests they call swans here in the lowermainland.
They raise hell with the indigenous swans.
Rob

[Crazy_Farmer]

No season in Oregon.

Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Alaska, North carolina give or take one or two

[The Hermit]

I call BS... the guy saw seagulls!! ;-)

[300win]

We were visiting down at the coast and driving back home today when my daughter says "What is THAT in the sky?". What she sees are 2 very large white birds with long necks. That's when I noticed about 3 different flocks of these birds sitting in the fields next to the highway. This was between Chilliwack and Abbotsford in the fields right across the highway from the new Ritchie Bros. auction site on Hwy #1. At first I thought they were swans, but swans usually have some black on them and these birds looked all white. They were about 1 1/2 times the size of a Canadian goose and about the same shape, so I'm guessing there are some kind of a goose. At any rate, I had never seen a bird quite like this before. Anybody else seen these birds and can tell me what they are so I can tell my daughter? Thanks.

Snow geese, swans or sand hill cranes??????

[Marlin375]

Trumpeters are usually slightly larger
85% of tundras have a yellow spot infront of the eye

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/3023506840_26a7b8413e_o.jpg

I remember bird hunting in Duncan and seeing lots of Tundra swans