Stanley Park Ecology Society News

We received a call today from one of Stanley Park’s bird lovers and he alerted us to the fact that we probably had a juvenile Trumpeter Swan out on Lost Lagoon. It is quite easy to spot the many introduced Mute Swans out on the water with their distinctive orange bill and the black knob at the bill’s base (see inset photo) but the extra swan out there today had a distinctly dark bill with an orange “grin” line running along the bottom. Judging by the size, it was last year’s cygnet but of which native species - the Tundra Swan or the Trumpeter Swan?
The young Tundra Swan at this time of year is really quite white compared to a Trumpeter Swan of the same age - Trumpeters tend to retain more of the grey-brown colouration on their back and neck. Adult Tundra Swans also tend to have a yellow spot on their lores (area between the bill and the eyes) which can appear on sub-adults as a light greyish spot in the same area. Even though we don’t see this spot on the swan below, we must keep in mind that not all Tundras develop the yellow spot. The easiest way to tell these two birds apart is by listening to their calls and sure enough, this young swan had that distinctive trumpet-like call. Mystery solved and Lost Lagoon shoots up another notch on my list of things to always look at twice.
Anyone interested in hearing the difference between Tundra and Trumpeter calls can check out this site but please be aware that it is an external link and not our content.

Something that has always fascinated me about living in Vancouver is how we share our streets and yards with what SPES refers to as “urban wildlife.” Having only lived here for about 5 years now, I have to admit that I am tickled every time I meet a pigeon on the sidewalk and it steps around me like any other pedestrian would. I suppose, if I had lived here all of my life, that I might eventually take the more common urban wildlife for granted but as soon as you start to do that - you miss out on all the cool stuff.
Today was just such an occasion as two of our staff suddenly dropped everything to rush outside and take a look at what I thought were “just” more Canada geese. But, lo and behold, there in amongst the regulars was my first Greater White-fronted Goose, grazing on the manicured lawns of Stanley Park right by the rose gardens. The picture below clearly illustrates several of the differences between the two species including the white facial blaze, the pinkish bill and the black bars on the belly. This is why it always pays to look twice.
And if you liked looking at these birds, check out our events calendar for the next birding walk - it’s your park!

Happy Spring everyone! We are very excited here at SPES for a number of reasons, the first of which is that we have a working blog and have decided to start using it! It also means that we have just under a month left before our “Playing for the Park” benefit event on April 22, 2007. Everyone is super excited about seeing “Bobs and Lolo” play and we hope you will join us for some fantastic family fun!
Speaking of family fun, the numbers are steadily increasing at the Stanley Park Great Blue Heron colony this spring. Last weekend’s count identified approximately 92 adults already on site with over half of the nests still empty and we are expecting many more herons arriving in the near future. Some of the early nesters have already produced the pale blue eggs that should be hatching in mid to late April.