This past Weds followed a serious rainstorm on Tues that was having trouble clearing the area. It looked like we would cancel. But due to the willingness of a few of the wilder ones in the bunch, we carried on in our pursuit to track down one of the places our wintering swans go when ponds are frozen over. We headed to a place called South Beach in the town of Mashpee, an area of outwash plain from the glacier so long ago that has a barrier beach on one side, and Sedge Lot Pond, a salt pond on the other. And here in this pond is where the action is for both wintering ducks like the Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads, and for gulls and Great Blue Herons. Around the edge of this pond, closer to the inlet to the Bay was a line of white. Ah, the Mute Swan winter hang out. We counted close to 100 swans clustered together along the edge and were able to follow the trail till we were parallel with them.
Now, of course they are lovely to behold, one of the largest waterfowl in North America, but I imagine a lot of you know, that, therein, lies the rub. They aren’t really from North America. Home Sweet Home for them is the British Isles, Northern Europe and North Central Asia.
But they are so fetching to look at, especially with that tendency to strike Hallmark-like poses, curving their necks together to make a heart, that in the early 1900’s some people thought it would be grand to have them here in New England, and in New York, in parks, on wealthy estates and in zoo’s. And as almost always is the case with imported species, a few got away. And what started with a few escapees in the early 1900’s is now about 14,000 birds on the Atlantic coast alone.
“All the more fetching, Hallmark-like birds to gladden our hearts” you might say. Well, we might say, but the native ducks that also have a yearning to raise their young on the ponds, and the many animals who also would like to eat the submerged vegetation in the ponds would beg to differThe male swan, called a Cob, is notoriously aggressive when nesting, and will drive everything else off the pond he and his mate have chosen.
With a wing span of 8’ they make a formidable opponent as they charge down on anything else cruising on their waters and I should spare you the gory details of what they do if they do find others have nested in the same place.
They also have a hefty thrust to their bill, so when they are upending the submerged vegetation they like to eat, they can do a bit of damage to the younger plants trying to grow. Which in turn is not appreciated by the myriad of aquatic insects that are making their home in those plants. The web of life is always a tricky one isn’t it? So what to do.
At our nature center, we are lucky enough to have natural controls already in place. One very large, snapping turtle really looks forward to spring when cygnets are on the menu. And although it is sad to play the counting game of watching them go one by one, it also means our pair isn’t adding to the overpopulation. I read that in Rhode Island, they have a program where they find the nest, and then shake the eggs, ending any chance of hatching, but leaving them in place so the pair doesn’t lay another clutch. Wow, sounds labor intensive doesn’t it? But killing off adults is also too gruesome and unwelcome by the public so how to truly manage them hasn’t been figured out yet, at least not to my knowledge.
Well, did all the above spoil the Hallmark moment for you? I am sorry. They are lovely. And you know, they were beautiful out there on the water, and the sight of them flying overhead is stunning, and the pair we have on our pond delight everyone.
So while we know they should be somehow kept in check, we also can’t help but enjoy seeing them. Lets just be sure that none of us spearheads a movement to, say, bring Koalas to our woods, or flamingoes to our lawns other than plastic ones. “A place for everything and everything in its place” applies to nature too.
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