EMILY JONES Idaho State Journal | Posted: Friday, July 30, 2004 12:00 am
MONTPELIER, Idaho (AP) - Amid the hissing of quarrelsome birds and the rustling of feathers, Bill Long emerges from his white horse trailer with a perfectly docile-looking trumpeter swan.
The quiet bird is weighed, and puts up no fight as workers glue a bright yellow plastic band around his neck and a tighten a small metal cuff on an ankle. For the swan, and nearly a dozen like him, the experience is the end of a journey that began when they were eggs at Gray's Lake Wildlife Refuge. Drought has made the refuge a tough place to raise swans. There are between six and eight breeding pairs, but the water levels are too low for them to succeed.
"Pretty much all of the young die," southeast Idaho refuge biologist Carl Mitchell says. About a year ago, swan eggs were taken from Gray's Lake Refuge to Bill Long's place in Jackson, Wyo., where they were born and tended for one year.
Last week they returned to Idaho, to Bear Lake Refuge, where they will learn to fly and, experts hope, return to raise their own young. Swans migrate to places with open water in the winter, but in the spring and summer, they return to nest. Mitchell hopes they will think of Bear Lake as their home.
"They'll learn to fly here. Maybe there's something in their head that says, 'I learned to fly here. This is home."' On July 15, 11 swans left Long's care. One by one, they hopped out of the trailer and immediately took to the water, swimming away while a small crowd watched.
"Perfect," Mitchell said.
Idaho refuge biologist, Carl Mitchell, left, gets a helping hand while he glues a plastic band around a trumpeter swan's neck. The bird was later released at the Bear Lake Refuge. Journal photos by Emily Jones. The swans will join the myriad of other birds at Bear Lake Refuge. Between 250 and 260 birds live within its boundaries, and on any given day, it's not hard to see plenty of them, even from a car.
Despite the drought, much of the refuge is still swamp, perfect for sensitive species who depend on water for survival, refuge manager Robert Bundy says. The water system is complicated, but stable. It's located just north of Bear Lake, and water from the lake flows through the refuge on its way to water users.
Water also flows through the refuge into Bear Lake when Bear River is diverted through Stewart dam.
"We're in the middle of a drought, and there's plenty of water here," Bundy says. "We see almost every drop of Bear Lake water.
Water flows by on both sides of the road as Bundy drives along, showing off the birds at his refuge. A flock of young geese, still lacking feathers after a recent molt, run along the dirt road ahead of the truck. In the water, dozens of birds swim and dive under the water, looking for food. A great blue heron sits on a nearby water diversion, refusing to budge until the truck is nearly upon him. It's been a wonderful spring and summer for the birds. Anticipating a drought, Bundy kept water levels high during the winter, and the cool spring and runoff has given them even more water.
"It's a good year. Mother Nature treated us right," he said.
As required by the Migratory Bird Act of 1918, up to 40 percent of Bear Lake Refuge is open to the public at any given time. The rest of the 18,000 acre refuge is set aside so breeding birds have privacy and solitude.
During hunting season, the refuge is well-used. Bundy and his wife, Kody, go to the refuge almost every weekend.
"You never know what you'll see around here," Kody Bundy said. "People who live out in the city, I feel sorry for them."
Kody smiled as she heard the geese call to each other. The water in the swamp makes sound travel farther, and birds can be heard for miles.
"I love that sound," she said. "There's just something about (geese). The mystique."
To make the refuge and birds more accessible to the public, Bundy has teamed up with Bear Lake County commissioners, Bear Lake School District, conservation groups and local residents to build a mile-long bird-watching trail, a canoe trail and a handicapped-accessible hunting blind.
"It's a breeding refuge, but it's also for the American people," he said. "They should be able to use it."
AP-WS-07-30-04 1219EDT