Some of the most spectacular and largest white migratory birds
may soon be stopping in this region to rest and feed before
resuming their flight to the shores of the Mid-Atlantic States.
How we yearn every early November for a brief sighting of tundra
swans.
It was Miss Emma Toft in past years who was quick to spread
the news to some of her friends that the swans had arrived at the
Point and were resting and feeding out on the bay. My journal of
November 11, 1972 states that 35 whistling swans were down from
the North for a brief stopover near Baileys Harbor. The name has
been changed in recent years to the tundra swan.
These majestic creatures are one of three species that are now
nesting in North America, the other two being the mute swan which
is not native to this continent, and the trumpeter swan, largest
of the three. The tundra swan is the smallest. It has only been
on rare occasions that trumpeter swans have been sighted in
northeastern Wisconsin. Tundra swans are seen in by far the
greatest numbers of the three but only when their spring and fall
migratory routes take them through this region.
It is usually in late March and early April when the largest
numbers of tundras can be enjoyed while they rest and feed in
farmers’ corn-stubble fields, in shallow shoreline areas or on
state and federally-protected refuges. An easy site for
observing them in spring is east of Shiocton, which is west of
Green Bay. The best site for viewing nesting trumpeter swans,
that is fairly close to this region, is in the U.P of Michigan --
the Seney National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) which lies due north of
the upper reaches of Lake Michigan.
The more I read about the tundra swan the more frequently I
come across the thought that, "the tundra swan is credited
as the originator of the swan song, a call purportedly made by a
mortally-wounded swan as it falls from the sky." This very
point weighed heavily when I learned that there are seven states
in which shooting tundra swans is legal with some restrictions –
Virginia, N. Carolina, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Montana, Nevada and
Utah.
Some people who strongly object to states that allow tundra
swans to be shot make the claim that these birds are not pests
and few are really edible. Some of the states’ wildlife
game-hunting regulators justify their killing in the name of
recreation. My opinion is, how can a person possibly recreate
their body and mind and soul by killing something? Why kill
anything in the name of recreation? Swan shooting might qualify
to hunters as a sport but not recreation in my book.
In Utah, for example, around 2000 permits will be given to
hunters, each for the purpose of shooting one tundra swan this
fall between October 5 and December 8. Hunters must tag and
register their birds. If ten of the rare trumpeter swans are
killed, then the season is shut down. Trumpeter and tundra swans
are very difficult to tell apart when they are in flight. How
terribly easy it is to understand why there are so many
objections to shooting swans. The trumpeter swan hunting season
is solely designed to absolve tundra swan hunters of the
liability for shooting
the similar-looking trumpeters. Might one conclude that those
game management people are more interested in pleasing hunters
than protecting rare birds? What’s even more disturbing is the
fact that, in parts of their range, the trumpeter swan population
has dropped by around 25% over last year.
It's very conceivable that you could see all three species of
swans in this part of the state this fall. Mute swans, which in
recent years have been observed here during all months, generally
hold the neck curved gracefully and bill pointed somewhat
downward. Their beaks are mostly orange and their wings may be
arched over the back giving a bulky appearance.
A trumpeter swan when at rest on the ground or water
frequently bobs its head and neck up and down (head bobbing.)
Carefully check your field guide to see the different head and
beak shape the trumpeter swan has in comparison to the smaller
tundra swan. The entire forehead and top of the beak of the
trumpeter forms quite a straight line and the black beak is quite
straight across its base compared to the V-shape of the base of
the tundra swan’s black beak. It is common for a tundra swan’s
beak to have a noticeable yellow streak, but all adult tundras do not have
this field mark.
Ever since coming out of the U.S. Army Field Artillery in 1955
with damaged hearing I shy away from shotguns, rifles and other
similar excessively loud racket. For the past 47 years my game
has been shot with cameras. I especially like the challenges
(far more difficult than pulling a trigger), and one doesn’t end
up with a pile of bloody feathers or fur. You still have your
trophy (the photograph), everybody’s happy, and the birds and
other animals remain alive. How terribly upsetting the very
thought of a "swan song" can be!
Small flocks of tundra swans are now migrating through Northeast Wisconsin.
This column appeared in the Door County Advocate
on 11/01/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.
