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April 14, 2005 - Introducing: the swanSA • The Suffolk Times • April 14, 2005 Our common mute swan Is an Introduced species from Eurasia. You either love it or hate It. Here we see one In Its daily chore of beating some greenery below, lowering Its head In the water and then reaching for that tender shoot that Is almost out of reach. Introducing: the swan The white mute swan we see lo- cally is an introduced species It's fairly common on Long Island and in the lower Hudson Valley region, but those boundaries are changing as the population expands It seems that here on the North Fork each creek, cove, pond and lake Focus has its "own" resident swans ON These handsome all -white swans NATURE originally came from Eurasia. by Paul Because they Stoutenburg l are so graceful inform and have such a stately appearance, they were sought after for parks, private collec- tions and in general, introduced locally for the sheer joy of having these grace- ful swans around. A private individual brought the first introduced swans here in the late 1800& In 1910 someone else imported 210 mute swans that were released in the lower Hudson Valley, where to this day they have done well. Then in 1912, 328 mute swans were released along the south shore of Long Island These swans slowly increased in number until by 1967 there were 1,700 mute swans found living along the south shore. Today they are well established throughout southeastern New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Throughout New York State indi- lk IMW 1843 Midae Road, Ccl.W, W 631727-2317 viduals have been seen, but few have bred.Yet here on our East End we have at least one mating pair in almost every creek, cove, pond or lake. Some years ago, onAudubon's Christmas Bird Count, I counted 500 to 600 mute swans huddled together in a cove off Moriches Bay. What had happened was the water froze everywhere except in this one protected spot that was kept open by the swans milling about; thew big, heavy bodies and their continuous movement kept the water from freezing. Speaking of body weight, swans weigh from 12 to 30 pounds and have a wingspan of 58 to 60 inchesThe sexes look basically the same, although the male is usually larger and during nest- ing time the big black knob on the or- ange- colored bill of the male swells and is noticeably larger than the female's The young of swans, geese and ducks all leave the nest within a day after hatching. Should __ hatch too late, they are forgotten and left behind.In- stinct tells the parents to take care of the majority — those that hatched on time. If the family stays too long in the nest waiting for the last few to hatch, the safety of the whole group could be jeopardized Remember, in the natural world only the wise and strong will survive. Usually the clutch is made up of four to six gray or blue -green eggs To keep the eggs warm, the female opens her breast feathers so the eggs come up Interlocking Paving Slones Retaining Wall Syslems Cohbleslows Bluestone Flaggin, /Treads Brick New /Used 0. GnF,"dn KF, Redbnd, van ,c_a semi Mon Rack/Boulder Pond Slone 5 types Wall /Flat Rock Concrete Block Decorative Cravels Veneer, Culture, IS Slone Cement, Mortar, Quickcrete tools and so much more! 727 -2317, exL 3 www.suffolkcement.com OPEN TOTHE PUBLIC 40= against her bare skin, thereby transfer- ring her body heat to them. All female birds show an "incubation patch" on their breast during this period During incubation the female is con- tinually communicating with her young right through the shell of the egg, and the unborn answer. This prenatal com- munication creates a strong bond be- tween the mother and her young even before they are out of the shell. This will prove its worth after hatching, for the young swans (cygnets) will always stay near the mother and act immediately The female upon her bidding; few ever wander off. It's a busy life for these newborn chicks and they often get Bred or cold When this happens they will climb on the back of one of the parents or work their way under a wing for the warmth and protection it gives. Although the male does practically nothing to help with the incubation, as soon as the young are born he be- comes their guardian angel and will defend his family against all intenders, be they bird, animal or human. He can do great harm with his powerful wings to those who threaten his family. I re- member years ago when I was canoe- ing in Yaphank with a friend of mine, at one point we had to pass an active swan nest with the female settled down on her dutch of eggs The male, who was not far away, came rushing toward us, head out straight and wings flapping. It didn't take'us long to see he meant business. That canoe literally took off as we paddled as fast and as hard as we could It wasn't until we had put a good bit of distance between us that Mr. Swan settled down and re- turned to his post I'm telling you, our hearts were pounding! There has been some concern that the presence of mute swans will have a detrimental effect on native wildfowl, particularly the black ducks, mallards, pintails and other ducks that tip up to feed on aquatic plants and animals that inhabit the shallow bottom. The long neck and the healthy appetite of the mute swan make it a potential competitor for those who rely on these important feeding grounds Is There was a small study done in Connecticut to see if there was a problem caused by mute swans displacing wildlife by feeding in the same location. This study found there is no conflict for feeding grounds because the mute swan feeds at a different level and on plants that the ducks don't feed upon.The question is still highly controversial and until more research is done we won't know the answer conclusively as to whether or not the route swans are a hazard to other wildlife. I continually do know they will her often drive out na- tive ducks from their nesting sites the We have another swan you should be aware oh just in case you happen to come across one of them when they migrate north to spend summer in their breeding grounds in the Arctic or as they fly south toward their wintering home in the Chesapeake Bay area. It's the smallest of our swans but the most widespread. It's called the tundra swan, formerly known as the "whis- tling swan." Lewis and Clark named it that on their epic journey to the Pacif- ic because of the sound its wings make when it flies In November two of these tundra swans were seen in East Hampton, so keep your eyes open for something different during the winter months when they are moving through our area. This tundra swan carries its neck in a straight line, in contrast to our mute swan, which carries its neck in a graceful curve. If you can get up close enough to this rather rare visitor, you91 see it has a completely black bill in contrast to the orange bill of our mute swan. Like all swans, it lowers its head down into the shallow water, where it feeds on the bottom One day a few years ago I spotted a black swan. Now here's a swan that's from the U.K. and Australia, where we had seen many of them — but this one was right here in Cutctogue Harbor. How could it be? The only thing we could speculate was that it had es- caped from someone's aviary. So you see, it always pays to carry your bin- oculars and keep your eyes open. communicating with young right through shell of the egg, and unborn answer. The Suffolk Times • April 14, 2005 Introducing: t The white mute swan we see lo- cally is an introduced species. It's fairly common on Long Island and in the lower Hudson Valley region, but those boundaries are changing as the population expands. It seems that here on the North Fork each creek, cove, pond and lake Focus has its "own" resident swans. ON These handsome all -white swans NATURE originally came from Eurasia. by Paul Because they Stoutenburgh are so graceful in form and have such a stately appearance, they were cnnaht after for narks. private collec- e swan tions and, in general, introduced locally for the sheer joy of having these grace- ful swans around. A private individual brought the first introduced swans here in the latc 1800s. In 1910 someone else imported 210 mute swans that were released in the lower Hudson Valley, where to this day they have done well. Then in 1912, 328 mute swans were released along the south shore of Long Island. These swans slowly increased in number until by 1967 there were 1,700 mute swans found living along the south shore. Today they are well established throughout southeastern New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Throughout New York State indi- viauais nave peen seen, out rew nave bred. Yet here on our East End we have at least one mating pair in almost every creek, cove, pond or lake. Some years ago, on Audubon's Christmas Bird Count, I counted 500 to 600 mute swans huddled together in a cove off Moriches Bay. What had happened was the water froze everywhere except in this one protected spot that was kept open by the swans milling about; their big, heavy bodies and their continuous movement kept the water from freezing. Speaking of body weight, swans weigh from 12 to 30 pounds and have a wingspan of 58 to 60 inches. The sexes look basically the same, although the male is usually larger and during nest- ing time the big black knob on the or- ange- colored bill of the male swells and is noticeably larger than the female's. The young of swans, geese and ducks . all leave the nest within a day after hatching. Should some hatch too late, they are forgotten and left behind. In- stinct tells the parents to take care of the majority — those that hatched on time. If the family stays too long in the nest waiting for the last few to hatch, the safety of the whole group could be jeopardized. Remember, in the natural world only the wise and strong will survive. Usually the clutch is made up of fou to six gray or blue -green eggs. To keep the eggs warm, the female opens her breast feathers so the eyes come uv against her bare skin, thereby transfer- ring her body heat to them. All female birds show an "incubation patch" on their breast during this period. During incubation the female is con- tinually communicating with her young right through the shell of the egg, and the unborn answer. This prenatal com- munication creates a strong bond be- tween the mother and her young even before they are out of the shell. This will prove its worth after hatching, for the young swans (cygnets) will always stay near the mother Lshellof i and act immediately upon her bidding; t few ever wander off. 1 It's a busy life for these newborn chicks and they often get % tired or cold. When this happens They will climb on the back of one of the parents or work their way under a wing for the warmth and protection it gives. Although the male does practically nothing to help with the incubation, as soon as the young are born he be- comes their guardian angel and will defend his family against all intruders, be they bird, animal or human. He can do great harm with his powerful wings to those who threaten his family. I re- member years ago when I was canoe- ing in Yaphank with a friend of mine, at one point we had to pass an active swan nest with the female settled down on her clutch of eggs. The male, who was not far away, came rushing toward us, head out straight and wings flapping. It didn't take us long to see he meant business. That canoe literally took off as we paddled as fast and as hard as we could. It wasn't until we had put a good bit of distance between us that Mr. Swan settled down and re- turned to his post. I'm telling you, our hearts were pounding! There has been some concern that the presence of mute swans will have a detrimental effect on native wildfowl, particularly the black ducks, mallards, pintails and other ducks that tip up to feed on aquatic plants and animals that inhabit the shallow bottom. The long neck and the healthy appetite of the mute swan make it a potential competitor for those who rely on these important feeding grounds. There was a small study done in Connecticut to see if there was a problem caused by mute swans displacing wildlife by feeding in the same location. This study found there is no conflict for feeding grounds because the mute swan feeds at a different level and on plants that the ducks don't feed upon. The question is still highly controversial and until more research is done we won't know the answer conclusively as to whether or not the mute swans are a hazard s continually to other wildlife. I do know they will ng with her often drive out na- hrough the tive ducks from their !gg, and the nesting sites. We have another er. swan you should be aware of, just in case you appen to come across one of them when they migrate north to spend summer in their breeding . grounds in the Arctic or as they fly south toward their wintering home in the Chesapeake Bay area. It's the smallest of our swans but the most widespread. It's called the tundra swan, formerly known as the "whis- tling swan." Lewis and Clark named it that on their epic journey to the Pacif- ic because of the sound its wings make when it flies. In November two of these tundra swans were seen in East Hampton, so keep your eyes open for something different during the winter months when they are moving through our area. This tundra swan carries its neck in a straight line, in contrast to our mute swan, which carries its neck in a graceful curve. If you can get up close enough to this rather rare visitor, you'll see it has a completely black bill in contrast to the orange bill of our mute swan. Like all swans, it lowers its head down into the shallow water, where it feeds on the bottom. One day a few years ago I spotted a black swan. Now here's a swan that's from the U.K. and Australia, where we had seen many of them — but this one was right here in Cutchogue Harbor. How could it be? The only thing we could speculate was that it had es- caped from someone's aviary. So you see, it always pays to carry your bin- oculars and keep your eyes open.