In late November, Wolf Hollow received a juvenile Trumpeter Swan from the Mt. Vernon area. She had been seen sitting in a field, unable to fly off with the rest of its flock. The cause of injury is unknown, but it is possible she flew into power lines.

An exam and X-ray showed a break in her pelvis, and a badly swollen hock. With a course of antibiotics and laser treatments from veterinarian Michelle Loftus and a lot of supportive care, the swan gradually healed. By late February, she was putting more weight on her injured leg and moving around but still had an obvious limp. To take off, swans need to have strong legs and a lot of space to take a running start before they can launch into the air. There was no way to test this at Wolf Hollow and time was running out. Spring was approaching and the Trumpeter Swans would soon be leaving to fly north to their summer breeding grounds in Alaska. Trumpeter swan experts suggested that the best course of action would be to take the swan to Terrell Lake, north of Bellingham, where hundreds of swans gather before continuing their journey. This would give her the best chance to swim, build up her strength and meet up with other swans she could join for the flight north.

On Saturday, March 14, Wolf Hollow volunteer Heather Callin took the swan up to Terrell Lake, where WDFW biologist Brad Otto put on a leg band and a colored neck collar so the swan could be easily identified, before releasing her onto the lake. Much to everyone’s surprise, she flew. After over three months without flying, she was still strong enough to take off and fly a short distance. She will have to work hard in the next couple of weeks to build up her muscle strength for the longer flights ahead, but it is a good start.