After a false start due to weather, the annual swan and eagle count tallied up Saturday in the Crooked River area.
Originally scheduled for Jan. 12, the P.G. Naturalists Club postponed the event following menacing skies.
The 10 naturalists who participated on Saturday counted 23 adult and three immature trumpeter swans, as well as two adult bald eagles.
"The number of swans is about normal for the past 10 years or so, although the ratio of young to adult is low," said count organizer Sandra Kinsey. "We usually don't see eagles, so these two were nice."
The group also saw 19 common Goldeneye ducks, two mallards, two belted kingfishers, two American Dippers, four Red Crossbills and a small flock of 20 Pine Siskins.
"The Siskins are unusual in the winter but have been common this winter, perhaps because it's been so mild in B.C.," said Kinsey. The naturalists also noted two of the Red Crossbills were exhibiting breeding behaviour. Those birds will breed any time of year.
The club passes the count numbers on to a biologist who then sends a large batch of results from other counts to the Canadian Wildlife Service.
