Swans in Boxley - UPDATE

The trio of trumpeter swans that arrived in Boxley Valley on Christmas Eve have vanished and not been seen for several days. We saw two of them on Christmas day, but have not seen any since then - we were there three times today and no sign of them. Don't know if they have gone elsewhere or are just out for the day. If anyone spots them be sure to post a note here, otherwise it looks like you will need to go to Magness Lake to get swans in Arkansas this winter...

This is just great! Isn't the guy in the middle a newcomer?

UPDATE:

I just watched a program on PBS tonight that talked about trumpeter swans and their young and now feel like that guy in the middle above may be their cygnet (baby swan). The youngster is darker the first year like this guy is and won't get all white until next year. Yippie coyote!

Hopefully this is the beginnings of a future flock, and not just a pair (er, triplet)!

To repeat my updated post above:

The trio of trumpeter swans that arrived in Boxley Valley on Christmas Eve have vanished and not been seen for several days. We saw two of them on Christmas day, but have not seen any since then - we were there three times today and no sign of them. Don't know if they have gone elsewhere or are just out for the day. If anyone spots them be sure to post a note here, otherwise it looks like you will need to go to Magness Lake to get swans in Arkansas this winter...

They weren't there yesterday morning either....

UPDATE on Dec. 30th. I was told today that a landowner had found the male swan dead in the field back behind the old crumbling barn. The landowner said that a racoon had killed the swan - a fact I find very difficult to believe. I suspect that happened late Christmas eve or early Christmas morning since we saw all three swans Sunday and only two of them Monday morning. It would make sense that without the dad around the mom and baby flew off elsewhere and have not been seen around here since. I have the game & fish looking into this, and they are checking with the park service (who ultimately has jurisdiction I am told). Anyway, it looks like one of the swans was killed by some means, which is a tragic event for this holiday week...

Too bad about the trumpeter swan, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the predator was a bobcat instead of a raccoon. A couple of decades ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Conservation Department tried to establish a breeding population of trumpeters at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Poplar Bluff, MO. After a couple of years of attempts, they gave up because bobcats found the birds to be easy prey.

When I was at a wildlife refuge in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a few years ago, I learned that the swans were doing so well there because of the diminished population of bobcats in the region.

With only three swans at the Boxley pond, the alarm system has got to be diminished, which leaves them more vulnerable. I guess bobcats gotta eat too...

Best,
Don

This is certainly sad news, the swans return seemed to be creating the anticipation of an annual presence. If in fact it was bobcats then you can understand that it's the cycle of life in nature. No different than when a redtail takes a songbird at my feeder.

This sad circumstance makes me appreciate all the more the time I got to spend with them last February. I'm glad I have a few shots in my portfolio to remember them by.

As noted in another post the swans returned on the morning of January 2nd - hope they stick around a little while...