Trumpeter Swan ~ Creek Road - Chadds Ford, PA
UPDATE on this unusual visitor to my neck o' the woods below:

"The Trumpeter Swan that I observed last Tuesday (January 21) in Chadds Ford, PA, was present through dusk on January 22.
Multiple observers saw and photographed the swan that day as it sat atop the newly-frozen wetland and a backdrop of fresh snow.

We speculated that the swan would leave for a more suitable un-frozen location in order to access food, and by morning on January 23 the swan had departed.

I've just received the report on this wing-tagged swan (marked with "K46") from the USGS Bird Banding Lab and here is the scoop:

This is a female Trumpeter Swan that was banded on March 4, 2013, and was hatched in 2012 or earlier.
This means that she is a wild bird captured and tagged after at least a year of flying free.

Her banding location is the town of Midland, in the Canadian province of Ontario-- about 600 miles from Chadds Ford.
Midland is along on the easternnshore of Georgian Bay, and is home to the legendary Wye Marsh, where significant numbers of Trumpeter Swans breed.
The town even has a giant statue of a Trumpeter Swan to commemorate their iconic bird: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland,_Ontario

Where this particular Trumpeter Swan will end up next is anybody's guess.
The opportunity to track a tagged bird is very unique, and I hope other observers get a chance to see K46 again this winter!"

Good birding,
Derek Stoner Chadds Ford, PA