Subject: [Tweeters] Swan in trouble
Date: Aug 14 07:28:21 2005
From: jbroadus at seanet.com - jbroadus at seanet.com


I am posting this here in part because I know that Swan people monitor
this site.

Every morning I take a walk from my house in Puyallup to Clark's Creek
where it crosses under 7th. Ave. S.W., just east of the intersection with
18th. St. S.W. On the north side of 7th. Ave. is a park pond, called
DeCoursey Park, where people go to fed bread to the mallards, walk
their dogs, and take their kids fishing. The creek arcs around the north
side of the pond, and there is a path between them.

Friday and Saturday mornings, early (before 6:00) I noticed a swan in
Clark's Creek. I am tentatively calling it a trumpeter, based on an
"edge" where the forehead meets the bill, no yellow spot in front of the
eye, and a red line on the bill. However, the bird is not terribly big, only
slightly larger than the local Canada geese, and it has been silent. I
have only seen the bird when I get there before other people. When it
saw me both mornings it swam downstream, around a bend (this creek
is pretty small to afford a good take off run for a swan).

This morning I took my binoculars to see if I could see any yellow spot.
This time it was in the duck pond, and through my bins I could see a
fishing line, with a lead weight, hanging from its bill.

I was initially wondering what it was doing here. I have never seen
either tundra or trumpeter swans in this part of the Puyallup Valley, at
any time of the year (I've lived here 25 years).Does anyone keep these
as captive birds? (It has always been in the water for me, so I can't tell
if its banded) If its out of range, and out of season, appearance is
because it has been living with this distress all spring, then I wonder if
could be helped? Anyone want to take on trying to rescue it?

Note: this is a site that is popular with lots of people, and Clark's Creek
itself runs downstream through private property. Wouldn't be an easy
catch (not a job I would personally take on).

Jerry Broadus, PLS
Geometrix Surveying, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Puyallup, WA. 98371