February 2018
Pacific Northwest
The Trumpeter swans are still around in my neighborhood, although they have mostly abandoned the wetlands. From their arrival last fall, the largest group could be reliably found in the large wetland in the center of the island until mid January.
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I noted the swans had decamped right after we had a lot of heavy rainfall that filled the wetland a foot or so higher. Greater depth might have been the reason — swans being dabblers — but it might also have been depletion of grasses there. A swan eats 20 lbs of forage per day, and 50 or so swans pulling up submerged grasses for several months would put a big dent in the vegetation.
Since then I’ve been seeing a tight group of about 40 in various fields nearby. This field is one, midway between the large wetland and another downhill from it.
Yesterday I did see them in a wetland further south, which is also in this same watershed. A few have been there occasionally but all 40 or so of this tight group were foraging in a shallow end. The water level appears to be dropping in our wetlands now precipitation has lessened.
We’ll see if they’re foraging in a field or wetland today. Swan season is nearing its end here — soon they will head north for breeding.
Bucket’s open for today’s nature reports.
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