7/20/2006 -- Swan Report

A mix of things this issue. The swans at Worth County Lake have been partially successful at hatching young this year. The south pair had two babies.

The young cygnets seem to be growing well and healthy. The south pair of swans is the newer arrivals to the county and are younger birds. They were successful at raising young last year, too.

The north pair of swans, which were our earlier arrivals, didn’t successfully hatch any eggs. This is the second year in a row for them with no young. These birds have a mysterious past, being taking from a person who had no documentation on the swans and thus no legal right to own the wild birds. He offered no explanation and thus nobody really knows how old they are.

So, for us, we can only guess as to why they are not successfully hatching young. Infertile eggs would seem most likely as she lays and sits on them but they don’t hatch. Maybe they are just getting too old.

With any luck, the south pair’s two young will mature to adulthood and continue the restoration efforts here in Iowa.

In the state there were 25 nest attempts by wild birds. In Worth county there was only one known nesting by a wild pair (at Hanlontown Slough) but they produced a whopping 7 babies and all are doing well. Nearby Winnebago county had 5 nest attempts with a likely total of 15 babies being produced.