Help count Trumpeter Swans

Help count Trumpeter Swans

The San Juan Preservation Trust , Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Trumpeter Swan Society will hold their annual San Juan Islands swan count – part of a four-month survey – on Sunday, Jan. 23. People interested in volunteering to help with the count should call Cherill Perera at 468-3260.

Each year, the survey includes a single-day count of the swans on San Juan, Lopez, Orcas, Waldron, and Blakely islands, with periodic fly-over monitoring by volunteer pilots on other islands. Last year’s survey indicated a possible decline in the number of swans wintering in the San Juan Islands. Conducted by approximately 60 volunteers, and led by Perera, the survey goes from early November, when the swans begin to arrive, to the end of March, when they leave.

More than 17,000 Trumpeter swans migrate from their summer breeding grounds in Alaska each year to winter in warmer climates from southern British Columbia to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Since 1993, the San Juan Preservation Trust and the Trumpeter Swan Society have worked in partnership to perform an annual survey of the swans that winter in the San Juan Islands.

During the past few years, an increasing number of swans have been dying of lead poisoning after inadvertently ingesting spent lead shot pellets while feeding in agricultural areas. Sick and dead swans have been collected throughout the winter for the past four years. During the winters of 1999 to 2004, about 1,400 swans have been found dead from lead poisoning.

“The San Juan Preservation Trust and our volunteers have been a tremendous help with these annual surveys. Gathering the data on several islands provides important data to the U.S. and state fish and wildlife services regarding the state of the swans,” said Martha Jordan, chair of the Washington Swan Working Group, and board member of the Trumpeter Swan Society.

Trumpeter swans prefer open, grassy or farmland habitat with proximity to water. Among the sites enjoyed by the swans are several privately owned properties protected in perpetuity by the Preservation Trust. One is a 17-acre tract of land on San Juan Island that includes Percich Lake. The Preservation Trust conserved this property in 1991. Another is Martin Lake on Orcas Island, part of a property protected by the Preservation Trust in 1997.

Trumpeter swans are among the largest waterfowl, standing three to four feet tall, with wingspans of eight to nine feet. Weighing 25 to 30 pounds, these swans take flight from the water and require a “runway” of 50 feet to lift off.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.