Trumpeter Swans check out Hendrickson Marsh
PHOTOS BY GARRY BRANDENBURG — The largest native waterfowl is a big white swan, the Trumpeter, that may tip the scales at 25 pounds (or more). It is a conservation success story. Once few in numbers, this species has made a recovery that has exceeded expectations. Recently, while I was passing near Hendrickson Marsh, a DNR wetland site located a few miles west of Rhodes, I stopped to survey its icy wintry landscape. Way out in the middle of the ice was a group of Trumpeter swans. They were resting from their travels and most surely are feeling the urge to migrate toward northern areas. The exception to their travels can and will be an age-old battle with weather — being that Mother Nature is not finished with winter cold, strong winds, snow and the months of February and March, with all their unpredictability. Recent warm weather has allowed a buildup of waterfowl numbers in key refuge sites near the Missouri River.
Trumpeter Swans are big. One could say they are huge.
Both terms are descriptive and correct. With wingspans of six feet, their muscles have to power their 20 plus pound bodies over the water surface while outstretched wings create the lift to make flight possible.
They do that job quite well. A takeoff requires wings powering forward motion while their feet are assisted by a run on the water’s surface to push its body along. A takeoff run can be 100 to feet to as much as 10 yards. Once in the air, this majestic bird makes flight look easy, graceful and awesome to admire.
A long time ago, beginning in the 1600s, when all kinds of bird feathers were the rage for lady’s hats, big swans were killed by market hunters to satisfy market demand. Little regard was paid to the long term welfare of this species and other birds.
If the bird had long, feathery, and colorful plumage, and someone was willing to pay cash, there were people willing to eke out a living by collecting those feathers. Swan feathers were used in hats. Swan skins were adapted to be used as powder puffs, and the long flight feather quills were sought out as the ink dispenser for writing.
Fast forward to the late 1990s and the year 2000, a turn around in attitudes had filled the gap. The Trumpeter Swan species recovery was doing quite well.
At the local level, a silt pond at the Green Castle Recreation Area was fenced to hold a pair of pinioned swans. This breeding pair nested on an artificial platform surrounded by water.
The young cygnets they hatched over the years were free flying, but just before they were able to fly, DNR wildlife bureau crews captured the young from Green Castle, and other nesting sites across Iowa, and transported them to a National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.
A biological fact comes into play as the reason. Waterfowl make their first flights imprint on that area, creating a lifelong memory of that location, and later on in life will return from summer nesting sites.
Another fact is that female swans, when old enough to make pair bonds and breed, will bring along a male swan. In this long term arrangement, genetic diversity is assured.
Swan pair bonds form when the birds are three to four years old. The pair stay together throughout the year as they join other swans in long range migrations. The pair bond is a lifelong thing, but if one or the pair passes, the other will eventually find a new mate.
When it comes to egg incubation, trumpeter swans have an unusual method of keeping the eggs warm. They use their large webbed feet to cover the eggs while sitting on the nest. A rich blood supply in those feet provide the heat needed.
Eggs are four to five inches long and about three inches wide. It takes 32 to 37 days to incubate the eggs. A nest may have four to six cygnets.
These swans are now extensively distributed across a wide swath of the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. As they stage in preparation for migration, these big white birds will seek out open water and feed locally in grain fields of last year’s crops. That explains how it is possible to see these swans way out in the middle of corn country.
When you hear the distinct call of Trumpeter Swans, it may remind humans of a bugling trumpet. Taxonomists noting this fact named the bird for science as Cygnus buccinator.
People have a muscle in our cheeks called buccinator that allows us to blow out candles and to blow air into a trumpet or other air instruments. Later this winter and early spring, as you visit wildlife areas like Hendrickson Marsh, listen for the swan bugle, and hopefully view this very biggest of all waterfowl species.
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Have you heard of the National Wildlife Refuge in far northwest Missouri called Loess Bluffs NWR? It is located near Mound City, and very close to Interstate Highway 29.
This scribe has been there several times. It never disappoints.
Especially during late February and early March, this 3,100 acre wetland site is a major stopping point and staging area for waterfowl, shore birds, and birds of prey that follow the Missouri River valley in migration and rest plus search for food. The area has an interior ten mile long roadway around its wetland pools.
The views into all the adjacent water areas offers great viewing, and great photography opportunities, of thousands of ducks and geese. At the refuge headquarters and visitor center are lots of information items and displays telling of the history of this wildlife treasure trove.
A weekly update is made available for wildlife viewers. One week ago, the count for Greater white-fronted geese was 5,740.
Snow geese predominated at 394,000! Ross’s geese tallied 12,200 and Canada geese at 1,340. Northern Pintail ducks were counted at 2090, Green-winged teal at 870 and mallards at 9,400. In that terrific mix of waterfowl were some Trumpeter Swans — over 2,700!
Wow, what a sight that had to be. Bald eagles observed were 21. Many other hawks live here while other hawk species follow their own migration routes.
Loess Bluffs is named after the geologic hills along the east side of the Missouri River floodplain. The soils in these hills are composed of fine grained wind blown accumulations of particles.
These hills have their beginning from the exposed floodplain deposits of the river valley. Here is where tremendous winds from retreating Wisconsinan age, and even older glacial systems, scoured the land, picked up fine grains of soil and swept these dust laden clouds eastward. When the winds hit the upland borders, the air mass will lose velocity and the ability to hold the soil grains in suspension. Those soil particles, the loess, dropped out and created over geologic time frames an abundance of hilly terrain.
That bank of ruggedly shaped loess hills stretches all the way from northwest Missouri to areas north of Sioux City. Loess Hills are home to many unique plants and animals even today.
At Loess Bluffs NWR, biologists have noted 41 known mammalian species and 37 reptiles. Bird species, from tiny hummingbirds to trumpeter swans, and everything in between, is pegged at 310.
The refuge is home to many species all year long, with huge concentrations each late winter and early spring of waterfowl. I urge you to make a weekend excursion to this refuge. You will not be disappointed.
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Ducks Unlimited’s Iowa River Chapter, has announced its annual banquet and fund raising event for 2024. The date is Feb. 24, and the place is a new location.
Specifically, it is called Midnight Garden, located at 1501 S. 17th Ave. in Marshalltown. There will be the usual raffles, and games after the doors open at 5 p.m., and supper will be served at 7 p.m.
Single tickets cost $60 for early bird sales or at the door for $75. Sponsorship ticket cost is $300. Youth Greenwing tickets if purchased early are $30, and a spouse ticket is $25.
All ticket sales include a DU membership for the year. Ticket purchases can be made by writing to Jeremy Harris, 111 N. 16th St., Marshalltown, IA 50158. Tickets may also be acquired online at https://www.ducks.org/iowa#events.
DU, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wetland habitat for waterfowl and other species. DU was first organized on Jan. 29, 1937. A basic membership costs $35 per year which includes a well done magazine with interesting articles about wetland work across the nation.
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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology.
Contact him at:
P.O. Box 96
Albion, IA 50005
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- PHOTOS BY GARRY BRANDENBURG — The largest native waterfowl is a big white swan, the Trumpeter, that may tip the scales at 25 pounds (or more). It is a conservation success story. Once few in numbers, this species has made a recovery that has exceeded expectations. Recently, while I was passing near Hendrickson Marsh, a DNR wetland site located a few miles west of Rhodes, I stopped to survey its icy wintry landscape. Way out in the middle of the ice was a group of Trumpeter swans. They were resting from their travels and most surely are feeling the urge to migrate toward northern areas. The exception to their travels can and will be an age-old battle with weather — being that Mother Nature is not finished with winter cold, strong winds, snow and the months of February and March, with all their unpredictability. Recent warm weather has allowed a buildup of waterfowl numbers in key refuge sites near the Missouri River.
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