Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Wiser Lake story
Date: Jan 30 22:11:26 2014
From: Martha Jordan - swanlady at drizzle.com
Wiser Lake is and has been for many years a major night roost for Trumpeter
Swans in the Bellingham/Lynden area. This year it has been more heavily used
with as many as 3,000 swans using it during the freeze up weather. The lake
did not freeze completely. They arrive around dusk and leave in the morning
to feed in the fields.
The sad news is that many swans and ducks have been found sick or dead at
Wiser Lake this year. The number of swan mortalities is spiking and is
significantly more than the last 5 years. While some of the swans have
succumbed to lead shot ingestion poisoning, many others have died of as yet
unknown cause. Several bodies were sent to the National Wildlife Health Lab
in Madison, Wisconsin for necropsy. The results have not yet been released.
This mortality has not been observed in Skagit or Snohomish/King counties.
If you see or find a sick, injured or dead swan please report it to the Swan
Hotline run by WDFW: 360-466-4345 x266.
Martha Jordan
The Trumpeter Swan Society
Washington Swan Stewards-Chair
PMB 272
914 - 164th Street SE
Mill Creek, WA 98012
425-787-0258
Cell 206-713-3684