Trumpeter Swans are an increasingly familiar sight in western, central, and to some extent northern New York State, especially in the winter when parties of birds move down from Ontario in search of open water. Evidence suggests that the bulk of the NY population is derived one way or the other from the reintroduction program in Ontario. This ambitious project is based at Wye Marsh in Midland ON, which is near the southeastern corner of Georgia Bay on Lake Huron. Ontario raised swans have stayed to nest at a few spots within NYS and their offspring have spread further afield. Many of the Ontario birds are wing tagged (yellow with a unique three letter/number code) so their movements and survival can be easily tracked. There are other reintroduction programs (e.g. Ohio) but we await solid proof that any of their birds have reached into NYS. Unfortunately, few of the birds hatched in NYS have been marked and we have little information on their survival, movements or ability to nest successfully.
Trumpeter Swan have remained very scarce in the eastern and southeastern portions of the state but this seems to be changing. On Monday, Bob Wilson found a wing-tagged Trumpeter Swan (number 'A60') at Agawam Lake in Southampton, Suffolk County. This is 28 miles from Yaphank, also in Suffolk Co, where two untagged Trumpeters have returned for another winter. According to Harry Lumsden of the Ontario Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program, 'A60' is a female that was hatched in 2009 by two tagged swans (981 and E51). She was banded at Hillsburg ON (northwest of the Lake Ontario shoreline) on 7 Oct 2009 and then resighted at several location within southeastern Ontario during the following winter, spring and summer. In July of this year, A60 was found injured in Rosemount ON, taken into rehab and then released a short while later near Mansfield ON. There have been no additional reports of this bird until now. Are A60 and the Yaphank pair harbingers of changes to come? I would imagine the milder marine climate and less extensive snowcover of Long Island might offer an attractive and reliable wintering ground for these long-lived birds. Time will tell. NYSARC is actively monitoring the status of Trumpeter Swan in anticipation of adding the species to the official New York State Checklist. Guidelines have been established to help decide when a species can be considered self-sustaining (remember the fate of Eurasian Skylark and European Goldfinch) and in the Committee's opinion this has not been met quite yet. Monitoring the movements of identifiable individuals such as A60 is extremely useful in this process and NYSARC encourages submissions of marked birds or birds from areas where Trumpeter Swans remain very rare. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
