Selected Papers of the Twentieth Trumpeter Swan Society Conference
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SELECTED PAPERS OF THE TWENTIETH TRUMPETER SWAN SOCIETY CONFERENCE Trumpeter Swan Restoration: Exploration and Challenges 20-22 October 2005 Council Bluffs, Iowa Madeleine H. Linck Ruth E. Shea Editors i Conference Chairs Ron Andrews Madeleine Linck Conference Sponsors The Trumpeter Swan Society Iowa Department of Natural Resources Xcel Energy Foundation The Summerlee Foundation Special Thanks To Iowa Department of Natural Resources Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program Dave Hoffman Linda Scheurmann DeSoto Bend National Wildlife Personnel Pottawattamie County Conservation Board Hitchcock Nature Area staff Arnie Fredrickson Published by The Trumpeter Swan Society with financial assistance from The Summerlee Foundation. Copies may be purchased from The Trumpeter Swan Society, 12615 County Road 9, Plymouth, MN 55441. March 2007 ISSN 1094-6144 ii PREFACE Members of The Trumpeter Swan Society share a common mission to assure the vitality and welfare of wild Trumpeter Swan populations. The Society advocates on behalf of the Trumpeter Swan in the areas of population security, range expansion, habitat conservation and management, research, and public education. Trumpeter Swan restoration in the Midwest was begun more than 40 years ago. Initially, emphasis was on restoring breeding pairs to northern historical nesting lakes and marshes. While once believed to be only a bird of pristine wilderness, we have seen that the Trumpeter Swan has been able to adapt and thrive in the Midwest, exceeding population goals in each of its various flocks. However, challenges to their security remain, especially related to the availability of healthy and secure winter habitat and developing techniques to encourage a larger portion of the Interior Population to migrate to more southern habitats. Since our founding in 1968, our conferences have brought together agency managers and researchers, private sector partners, landowners, and other interested citizens to discuss the issues, problems, and opportunities of Trumpeter Swan restoration and management. By maintaining this network of swan enthusiasts, the Society has helped promote more effective management and restoration of Trumpeter Swans across North America where suitable habitat remains. The 20th Society Conference was held in Council Bluffs, Iowa, a historic Missouri River town. While presentations and discussions focused on the successes and challenges of the restoration of the Interior Population, we also heard talks ranging from Tundra Swan studies in Alaska to Trumpeter Swan surveys in western Canada and Mute Swan impacts on Chesapeake Bay. Liz Christiansen, Deputy Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), welcomed conference participants to the 2 days of presentations. We give our sincere thanks to the Iowa DNR Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program for their help in arranging the many conference details and logistics. Thank you also to TTSS member Linda Scheurmann for researching the natural and historic highlights in and around Council Bluffs. The all-day field trip was hosted by Ron Andrews and Dave Hoffman who were our tour guides through the beautiful Loess Hills National Scenic Byway and DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Conference participants and local school children were able to witness a swan release at DeSoto Lake, an oxbow lake once part of the Missouri River, and now protected by the Refuge for waterfowl habitat. Many thanks to the staff at Hitchcock Nature Center for leading an interpretive hike overlooking the prairie and woodlands of the Loess Hills in fall color. At the Saturday evening banquet, TTSS member Arnie Fredrickson shared his excellent aerial and close- up slides of Trumpeter and Tundra Swans wintering and staging on the Mississippi River as well as trumpeters nesting in the marshes of east central Minnesota. We gratefully acknowledge both Xcel Energy Foundation and The Summerlee Foundation for their generous funding that substantially defrayed conference costs and the printing of this special issue of North American Swans. Finally, we thank the authors who submitted their papers so that others might learn more about the needs of this majestic bird that we all cherish. Madeleine Linck and Ruth Shea The Trumpeter Swan Society iii OPENING REMARKS OCTOBER 20, 2005 On behalf of our Governor, Tom Vilsack, and the people of Iowa, I welcome you to our beautiful state and to Council Bluffs. I am glad you chose Iowa and Council Bluffs for your meeting this week. As we recognize and continue to celebrate the Bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark expedition that passed through here, it is appropriate to remind ourselves that this area did not always look as it does. We know the river looked different, but we cannot possibly comprehend the untouched beauty and natural abundance that once characterized this land. The French and Spanish explorers and traders who were in Council Bluffs almost a century before the Lewis and Clark expedition must have been amazed at these hills and the river so well known and cherished by Native Americans. When the expedition came through, the explorers stayed 5 days at White Catfish Camp, known today as Long's Landing. Lewis and Clark later met with Missouri and Otoe Indians 10 miles north of Omaha. This historic council in the bluffs provided the model for future meetings with the Native Americans and gave us the name of this city. In studying Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s journals, it appears they may have been the first to describe our largest waterfowl, the Trumpeter Swan, and, just as importantly, differentiate it from the Tundra Swan (formerly known as the whistling swan). Lewis continually heard the swans bugling overhead throughout their travel west and in a note written in the course of the expedition in the Rocky Mountains, he recorded that “the Swans are of two kinds, the large and small. The small differs from the large only in size and note; it is about one fourth less, and its note is entirely different.” Little did he know that those birds, so numerous as to darken the sky, would be persecuted to the point of near oblivion. It would take tremendous skill, effort, and ingenuity to reverse that trend and to hear and see the swans, the birds that Yeats called “those brilliant creatures” (Wild Swans at Coole), once again. I would like to note a couple of interesting items about this area. Council Bluffs is often affectionately referred to as Iowa’s “leading edge” or our “gateway to the west.” It was none other than Abraham Lincoln who traveled to Council Bluffs in 1859 and spent 3 days discussing with locals the possibility of a coast-to-coast railroad. After he was elected to the presidency, Mr. Lincoln designated Council Bluffs the eastern terminus of the transcontinental railroad. You will tour through the unique Loess Hills, consisting of wind-blown silt that forms some of the most agriculturally productive soils in the world. The amazing thing about the Loess Hills is that, aside from the fact that this landform is found in only one other place in the world, China, because the silt was deposited by wind, it is a direct record of atmospheric circulation and as such can be used to test computer models of ice-age climates. Returning to our swans, I applaud your work to restore this noble bird to its proper stature in our natural world. As you deliberate and discuss various issues, I encourage you to promote supporting environmental issues, especially water quality. Improving Iowa’s water quality is one of Governor Vilsack’s top priorities and, among those working in natural resources and environmental protection, it is one of the most critical issues facing us. Iowa has lost over 95 percent of its former 2 ½ million acres of glaciated wetlands and it shows. Rebuilding these important natural cleansing systems is a critical component of our work across the Department of Natural Resources. We are also working closely with private property owners to promote wetland restoration. Swans may be the key; since it turns out that citizens are really interested in Iowa’s Trumpeter Swan restoration project and are encouraged by its success and want to be part of it. Ron Andrews calls it “trumpeting the cause for wetlands,” knowing that improving water quality through wetland restoration will benefit our swans. 2005 marks the 10th year of Iowa’s Trumpeter Swan restoration effort and we have reached our first goal of establishing 15 free-flying nesting Trumpeter Swans. Even better, we have nearly reached our second goal of establishing 25 nesting pairs. To date, 572 Trumpeter Swans have been released in Iowa and over 100 trumpeters wintered in Iowa during the 2004-05 winter. People were responsible for the demise of Trumpeter Swans, and it seems only appropriate that we bear the responsibility for their return. You professionals and organizations like The Trumpeter Swan Society are to be commended for your passion and tireless efforts to bring back this beautiful bird to the skies and wetland landscapes across America. Once again, welcome to western Iowa and enjoy your conference! Liz Christiansen, Iowa Department of Natural Resources iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERIOR POPULATION IOWA’S TRUMPETER SWAN RESTORATION PROGRAM – A 2005 UPDATE ................................................. 3 Ron Andrews and Dave Hoffman OHIO TRUMPETER SWAN REINTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 6 David E. Sherman THE INVENTORY OF TRUMPETER SWANS IN ONTARIO IN 2005 ................................................................