Trumpeter Swan from Ketchikan

This young trumpeter swan was sent to us from the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center in Ketchikan. After caretaking it for a few days, it seems that it had a toxic reaction to something.

It seems to be getting some strength back and got to play in one of our kiddie pools today.

Unfortunately we had to end the fun and tube feed him since he's not eating on his own yet. Hopefully he starts eating again soon.

Swan from Deadhorse

Cindy and I picked up a Tundra Swan yesterday at the airport. It was sent to Bird TLC on the BP/ConocoPhillps co-op charter flight from the North Slope. It was 1 of 3 that was hit by a car. The other 2 kept on their travels, but this guy couldn't. X-rays revealed that it had a broken left wrist.

Dr. Palmatier reviewed the x-rays and today performed surgury to basicly wire the wrist together. This is its best shot. They aren't designed to be out of water and in captivity for long periods of time. All repairs are inclosed inside the skin. A few days of healing and it will start enjoying a water tank.

You can tell by its colorization that it's this years bird. If the repairs are successful, it'll be sent down to Cordova where they are known to stay out the winter.

Keep your feathers crossed!

The swan that didn't go home

Today was scheduled to be a boring day at home doing chores and all of that fun stuff. I have just started feeling better after being sick for about a week (if you couldn't tell from the lack of posting). I slept in until almost 10AM which is highly unusual for me. Sleeping in usually mean 7AM max if I'm lucky.

I got one cup of Maxwell House down when I got a call from Rachel at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center outside of Portage. There were reports of an injured swan sitting on the side of the road about a mile south of AWCC. At first I was a little leery about responding. I was just starting to feel better, I've been on wild goose (swan) chases before and this was an hour drive away, and if I found him it was a two person job to catch him. I told her I was going to call U.S.F.&W.

I called U.S.F.&W. and got a message machine. Rachel called back and gave me a little better location of the bird and says she's getting all kinds of reports on it. There's only her and one other person working today, so they can't respond. I called Megan who usually could help me out but I knew she couldn't today. Bird TLC was at an event for Trick or Treat Town and so were most of our volunteers.

Megan suggested that I call Beki. Beki is a relatively new clinic volunteer who also wants to become a presenter. We've been to a couple events together. So I called her and she was excited about getting to go.

We met up at Bird TLC and loaded up with blankets, a kennel and bird drugs. Off we headed to Portage. When we arrived we drove along side of the highway looking for our swan. There was no luck the first pass or on the drive back. I called Rachel to see if there was any updates and she said no. We decided to do another pass but slower. When we started our search again, a van pulled over and asked if we were looking for a swan. We told him we were and he said he was also but having no luck.

We started our search again and withing 20 feet Beki spotted our swan. The 3 of us put a plan of action together and caught the guy. He's a big one, 9.575 KG. Have I told you it was +27°f and then minus whatever the windchill was? It was cold! We checked in with Rachel at AWCC and thanked her for calling him in. Then we headed back to Anchorage.

There was no significant finds during his first exam, but we'll have a DVM check him out on Monday. In the meantime it's R&R, fresh food and a warm mew.

Swans from Barrow

In just a couple days I've been to the airport twice to pick up swans that were flown in from Barrow. After examination they were found to have very minor injuries, nothing to prevent them from migrating south.

Both being very young, probably this years bird, it's hard to determine what type of swan these are. The possibilities are Tundra and Trumpeter Sans.

What do you think?