Hi,
A neck banded trumpeter swan was released Sunday, Jan. 30 at the new
Johnson/DeBay Swan Reserve (owned by WDFW) between Mt. Vernon and Clear Lake
off of Francis Road at DeBay Isle Road. The bird is an adult male. The
band is BROWN and the code is O2CC. The code is one line reading vertically
along the neck.
Anyone seeing this bird, please e-mail me with the sightings as we want
to know where he goes and how well he is doing out there.
This bird was caught after hitting something in the fog on Dec. 27 and
is now well enough to try it again in the wild.
Also, if anyone out there has seen other collars (Brown or green) please
let me know. Some brown ones are also up in the Whatcom County area.

Today at the Swan Reserve was spectacular. About 600 trumpeters and
30,000 ducks and a few Canada geese were there most of the day. 4 juv. Bald
Eagles flew in and landed amist the swans, the ducks split the scene and
then the eagles drank from a puddle and ended up squabbling over a carcass
of a duck. The swans seemed mostly undisturbed, just moving a bit as the
eagles waddled around. The eagles stayed for more than one hour on the
ground.
A pair of adult eagles was observed in a tree nearby. Then Northern
Harrier and Coopers Hawk took a pass at the ducks that had landed again well
away from the eagles.
At sunset, about 80,000 ducks descended on the now flattened corn field
(it has been mechanically laid down after hunting season), just as the swans
were beginning to fly to the night roost in the adjacent DeBay Slough. An
adult and juvenile eagle then started harassing the ducks, stooping and
swooping. Clouds of ducks flew up, and even as more ducks flew in from
every direction the eagles stooped again. The sky was dark with ducks, the
swans opalescent against the dark bodies of ducks and the sky as they took
off for the roost. All in all a spectacular sight.
And the good news is that Monday or Tuesday at the latest, this site
will be open to the public. It is a Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Reserve. If
the gate is open you may drive in, if the gate is closed you must park
outside the gate and walk in. The area is scheduled to be open from about 8
a.m. to dusk each day--for vehicle traffic. It is disabled person friendly.
The photographic possibilities are awesome.
After your visit to this special area, please let me know what you
think about the parking lot, viewing area, etc. Your feedback is needed.
Thanks.

The area is result of many years of effort by WDFW, The Trumpeter Swan
Society and the Pacific Coast Joint Venture program (federal) to acquire the
property, then develop it for a destination place to observe swans and other
wildlife where it is safe for the public to do so.
The area has official stewards: The Trumpeter Swan Society, Skagit
Audubon, Washington Waterfowl Association, Pilchuck Valley Wildlife
Rehabilitation and Ducks Unlimited whose responsibility it is to keep the
trash picked up, get funds for signs and so much more. Please help us keep
this sight clean, take out all your trash and let us know if you find any
vandalism or other types of unwanted activity.

Thanks, and enjoy yourselves.


Martha Jordan
marthaj at premier1.net