Junior high students from Seeley Lake Elementary School stand around Gary Wayne for a close-up look at a trumpeter swan. For about ten years Wayne has been driving a bus bringing students to the swan releases. It seemed like he ought to finally have a chance to hold one. Wayne said, "Holding the swan was a big honor! It's an elegant animal and having the head draped around mine was a lot of fun."
Though not yet able to fly, this newly released trumpeter swan is stretching its wings.
At another station, a group of students from Sunset School learn about the types of plants that inhabit lakes and ponds where trumpeter swans hatch.
Students particularly enjoyed the station where Deb Tirmenstein of Montana Black Dog Services demonstrated how her trained dogs can sniff out aquatic invasive zebra and quagga mussels on a boat. She also invited students to help test three young pups to determine if they have the needed characteristics to become sniffer dogs. Here the pups' mother Rosebud sits at attention to alert Tirmenstein that she located one of the invasive species.
OVANDO – For 15 years, the Blackfoot Challenge and its partners have released fledgling trumpeter swans into the Blackfoot Watershed in a program aimed at restoring the swans to their native habitat. Next year could be the last year that happens. The goal was to get seven pairs of released trumpeter swans to return to the area, create a nest, produce eggs, raise their young and repeat the cycle for two consecutive years. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Montana State Coordinator Greg Neudecker, that goal has almost been reached. Speaking Sept. 5 on the shore of Rolling Stone Ranch's Jones Lake to an audience of approximately 150, including children from local area schools, Neudecker said eight nesting pairs have been observed and identified as returnees from previous releases.
Although that sounds like the goal has already been reached, Neudecker explained the swans aren't considered completely successful until they raise cygnets a second year. Since they bond for life, trumpeter swans take their time forming pair bonds. Some form pair bonds as early as their second winter and may nest for the first time at three years of age, but most don't nest until they are four to six years old.
In the Blackfoot Watershed, returning swans have chosen nesting grounds in a mix of private and public wetlands stretching from Lincoln to the Clearwater chain of lakes. Neudecker said a pair at Rainy Lake were nesting for the first time on a territory set up last year. An audience member said she observed them tending two cygnets this year. Another pair have set up territory on Seeley Lake, but have not yet nested. Neudecker said Placid Lake harbors the most productive pair. In 2016 and 2017 they had five cygnets each year. In 2018 their nest got flooded out and they produced no young. This year, however, the pair was spotted with six cygnets in tow.
The trumpeter swans released in the Blackfoot are raised from eggs captured by the Wyoming Wetlands Society facility in Jackson, Wyo. About a month before the swans are capable of flying, they are transported to release areas. The five young trumpeter swans released at Jones Lake will spend the month growing their flight feathers and familiarizing themselves with the area. Because they have no adults to model behaviors, they will teach themselves to fly and eventually will migrate to warmer areas when the lakes in the Blackfoot Watershed freeze over.
Before release, each bird gets banded on one leg with an aluminum identification band supplied by Fish and Wildlife Services and a red plastic band on the other leg. The red band has white numbers large enough to be read using binoculars or a spotting scope. Neudecker urged anyone who sees such a band to report it at blackfootswans.org.
Previous sightings indicated many of the released swans migrate to Ruby Valley, Mont. on the western fringe of the Yellowstone Park Ecosystem where they can find food and open water in winter. Snake River in Idaho is another favorite migrating area but individual swans have turned up in Utah and even California.
This year two swans were fitted with lightweight solar-powered satellite collars. Neudecker said, "Whenever the birds fly, they ping off a cell tower and it downloads data that shows what they're doing and where they are migrating to."
Neudecker also noted that a PBS photographer was filming this year's swan release. In addition, a camera-carrying drone was also deployed to capture the action. The footage will eventually become part of a PBS special.
Following the release of the swans, the school children participated in some additional hands-on learning fun. In the area surrounding Jones Lake, various groups and organizations had stations set up with activities that taught about wetlands, aquatic life forms and other related topics.
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