by Tim Manns
At this writing in mid-March two Whooper Swans first noticed weeks ago in fields along Chuckanut Drive west of Burlington are still visiting Skagit County. Thanks to Jeff Osmundson’s good directions, I joined many other birders adding this species to the avian wonders we have seen so close to home. Whoopers nested on Attu Island in the Aleutians in 1996, but most of these near Trumpeter-sized swans inhabit northern Asia and Europe and only rarely visit North America. Of the world’s six swans in the genus Cygnus, there in my narrow scope view were three: a Whooper posed in front of a Tundra and, to the side, a juvenile and adult Trumpeter. It was a dramatic reminder of the avian diversity we can experience in the Skagit. When this Skagit Flyer issue reaches you, the swans will probably have left for their respective breeding grounds: Trumpeters to inland Alaskan or Canadian lakes, Tundras further north to, yes, tundra ponds along the Arctic coast of Alaska and Canada, and the Whoopers back to northern Asia or Europe where they came from, venturing all the way to Skagit’s pastures and potato fields. We know that the presence of swans, ducks, and geese can impose financial burdens on Skagit’s farmers, and we appreciate those who tolerate the waterfowl spectacle the Skagit hosts each winter. Skagit’s present capacity to support huge numbers of ducks and geese and more Trumpeter Swans than any other county in the Lower-48 depends on the bays, marshes, and remaining inland habitat and also on agriculture.
Whooper Swan
Photo credit: Whooper Swan, Digital Nature Scotland/Shutterstock
National Audubon’s Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink (Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink | Audubon) is a powerful reminder that climate change has drastic implications for many birds as their ranges shift and, often, shrink. Will swans find the Skagit a good place to winter in the future? Will these far-northern breeders find their necessary conditions for reproduction so changed that nesting failure becomes common? Look at Audubon Washington’s and National Audubon’s legislative priorities and note the pervasive focus on bills and funding to address climate change. These human-caused changes are the foremost threat to birds just as they profoundly threaten people and all life as we know it.