Hello birders,
I am passing along some information on bandings of trumpeter swans at
Summer Lake and Malheur NWR in eastern Oregon the past year or so. If you
see any of these birds please report them to the contact listed -- and a
note to tweeters or me will be appreciated. Happy birding.

Thanks for the observation and I am glad to see Theta 47 hooked up with
other trumpeters in her wanderings. (She is at Turnbull NWR at the moment)
She was a yearling female from the Wyoming Wetlands Society rearing program
released at Summer Lake Wildlife Area (SLWA) on June 20, 2009.
She remained on and around SLWA throughout summer and fall and was last
observed on Dec. 2nd. In late November and December we had quite an influx
of migrant trumpeters and it sounds as if she may have hooked-up with some
of them.

Along with Theta 47 were 3 other yearlings from WY. They are wearing
green/white neck bands (Theta 46, 48 and 59). In addition, we translocated 6
cygnets from Malheur NWR; they could be wandering around the Pacific
Northwest as well. They too wear the same colored neck bands and Theta code
(61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68). Maybe some of these wanderers will hook-up with
Turnbull NWR birds and bring them southwest. Are any of your birds marked?

Right now, one of the yearlings (Theta 46) remains at SLWA and I have a
report of 3 neck banded swans on private wetlands in the northeast corner of
Summer Lake Valley but have yet to see who they are.

Hopefully Theta 47 will remember her way back here to spend subsequent
winters and bring along with her others she encounters during her
wanderings.

We plan to continue moving sub adult swans to SLWA with the intent to build
the growing wintering flock as well as a local breeding population. We now
have over 50 trumpeters wintering and many more passing through here each
year.

Please spread the word to others to keep and eye out for neck banded birds.

Take care and thanks for the report.

Martin J. St. Louis
Area Manager
Summer Lake Wildlife Area
53447 Hwy. 31
Summer Lake, OR 97640
(541) 943-3152


Martha Jordan
www.swansociety.org

"Perception is your sense of reality,
Perspective is your grip on reality."