Swan Season Is Upon Us Be on the lookout for migrating swans, including tundras and perhaps a few trumpeters. The mute swans pictured here remain in the area year-round. Wild swans will soon be in the news – native tundra swans, that is. It’s usually during the second and third week of this month that the tundra swans appear at their age-old favorite stopover sites in this region to rest and feed during their long arduous flight northward to their nesting grounds. The greater-than-normal amount of snow this past winter, preceded by deep frost, may result in plenty of flooded stubble corn fields this month. These surely are among the tundra swans’ favorite gathering sites during spring migration. This awesome ritual has been going on for centuries, taking the swans between their primary wintering sites in the Chesapeake Bay region all the way to the south shore of the Arctic Ocean, often with just one major stopover. It’s highly feasible that mixed in with the feeding and resting tundra swans will be a small number of the re-introduced trumpeter swans. Study your field guides and make special note of the difference in the shape of the heads of the tundra versus the trumpeter swan. There is also the possibility of seeing a few mute swans. In fact several pairs have lingered in open but sheltered bays along the Lake Michigan shore during this past winter. To wake up in the morning, look out the window and see a large, beautiful, dignified white swan on your pond or a flooded field is quite a memorable occasion. Gradually the word spreads and soon everyone in the neighborhood has seen it, and before long people are getting downright sentimental over the graceful creature. The large knob at the base of the orange beak, plus the sheer size of the bird, easily identifies it as a mute swan. In fact there is no mistaking a flock of tundra swans by their far-reaching whistled hoots. They surely are talkative. Mute swans are quiet, hence their "mute" name. Can you imagine mute swans becoming so common, like starlings and house sparrows, that they no longer command one’s attention? Worse still, can you visualize these large birds contributing toward the eutrophication of dozens of ponds and small lakes, driving thousands of native ducks, geese and other waterbirds out of their nesting habitats, and in general becoming unwelcome nuisances? Consider the situation in many coastal regions of southern New England where mute swans have become quite abundant. A number of stories have been written describing not only the strong polarization of people, many enjoying and favoring the mute swans, but also a lot of people greatly opposed to their presence. What makes for a very difficult problem is that so many residents of that region recognize these astounding white birds as symbols of beauty, grace, dignity and immortality. However, Bruce Fellman, a Rhode Island naturalist summed up the situation perfectly when he said, "What a majestic bird! What grace and beauty! And what an awful pain in the neck!" If you’ve ever tried walking down a lakeside road or shore frequented by several hundred Canada geese, you are well aware of the unbelievable quantity of manure to vainly attempt to avoid stepping in. It has been calculated that fifty swans resting on a little pond every night, each bird having eaten as much as 14 pounds of aquatic vegetation elsewhere during the day, can be a more severe source of pollution to that body of water than a dozen malfunctioning septic tanks. People at Trustrum Pond, associated with the Audubon Society in Rhode Island, had a terrible problem several years ago with a resident flock of between 250 and 275 mute swans. Imagine the amount of swan manure along that shore alone! Comparing the introduced mute swan with the introduced European starling and house sparrow admittedly is pretty far-fetched. Nevertheless a potential problem with the giant white birds looms in the not-too-distant future. Knowing how serious a problem developed from the outwardly harmless introduction of the small European birds to the U.S., perhaps the wildlife experts are being wise and not overly cautious in their stand to keep the mute swans in check. Personally I struggle somewhat with the entire issue. However, eastern U.S. wildlife biologists would be quick to invite you to sites where the "royal" birds have gotten out of control along with other dreadful invaders such as the purple loosestrife plants. On the other hand all I can say is that I’m mighty thankful that small groups of "introduced" Bohemian immigrants, among them my four great-grandparents who settled near Slovan and Rostok in Kewaunee County, WI, my parent’s birthplaces, were not denied entry into this great land in the late 1860’s! This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 03/13/2004. © Copyright 2004 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.