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Trumpeter swans, big, graceful and musical with their calls, enjoy their winter home on Magness Lake near Heber Springs. Adult birds are white; juveniles have a dusky hue to their feathers. (Joe Mosby Photo) Trumpeter swans enjoy winter at Lake Magness Saturday, Jan 24, 2004 By Joe Mosby The unmistakable musical calls were evident even before we stepped out of the vehicle. The trumpeter swans were active and vocal. More than a dozen were close to the nearest bank, and others were scattered in small groups around the western end of little Magness Lake. A few minutes of watching produced several questions, particularly what does the vigorous head bobbing by the swans mean. Could it be a mating ritual? Possibly, but both adult and juvenile birds were doing it. Sometimes three or four closely together would bob heads, not in unison but one after another. One of Arkansas' unique wildlife stories are these swans - big, stately, beautiful birds that spend the winter on one small oxbow lake in Cleburne County. They're found nowhere else in this part of the country, although some indications are that trumpeters are wandering around more in recent years than previously. A few have been seen in southern Illinois - not that far from northcentral Arkansas as the swan flies. Texas has had a report or two of trumpeters lately. Trumpeters are the largest members of the swan family. They have black bills and noses, with a faint red or salmon-colored line along the edge of their bill. In contrast, the more numerous tundra swans, formally called whistling swans, are smaller and have yellow dots on each side of their bills. Mute swans, not natives of North America but descendants of escapees from zoos and parks, have orange bills with black knobs at the upper base. All of these swans are rare in Arkansas. Restoration projects have increased the numbers of swans in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and occasionally marked swans are in the winter group at Magness Lake. The markers are usually traced to birds from Minnesota and Wisconsin. One of the adult swans at Magness Lake this winter is distinctive, wearing a green neck collar with gold lettering "61E" and with a radio transmitter affixed. A contact with the Minnesota-based Trumpeter Swan Society resulted in the radio bird's history. Mike Onofrio of Michigan's Natural Resources Department said, "61E is a 5-year-old male that was released in Iron County of the Upper Peninsula in 1999. He was spotted in southern Illinois in 1999, 2000, and 2001." Biologist Karen Rowe, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's nongame bird program leader, said a couple of other Michigan trumpeters have appeared at Magness Lake in past years. How and why did 61E come to Arkansas this winter? He wasn't noticeably paired with a female swan when we saw him, but maybe that's a good-enough guess - 61E took up with a mate up north during the summer. Or maybe he just went along for the trip with others in the area bobbed heads and said, "Time to go to Arkansas. We'll get fed down there, and it's warmer than up here." Landowner Perry Linder of Heber Springs is largely responsible for the swans returning to Magness Lake year after year. He feeds them and he protects them as much as he can. Others interested, some friends of Linder and some just bird appreciators, occasionally lend a hand with buying feed. Linder counted 55 swans this year. The birds move in and out in small groups, so an accurate census is difficult. Our visit resulted in a count of 52 shortly before sunset. From the three dozen a couple of hours before, the number grew as flights of four, five or six arrived, announcing themselves with calls while still a quarter mile or more from the lake. They land on the water gracefully, similar to a water skier making a stop. Trumpeter swans' feet are large, and these produce waves and splashes on landing. Magness Lake covers 30 acres. It and the surrounding area are privately owned, with locked gates. But visitors can easily view the swans from a public road, with parking space available in an S curve of the road. To reach the swans and Magness Lake, drive east on Arkansas Highway 110 from its intersection with Arkansas Highways 5 and 25 just east of Heber Springs. Go 3.9 miles from the intersection to Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, marked with a white sign. Turn left on a paved county road. Magness Lake is about a half-mile down this road. ----- Joe Mosby is the retired news editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas' best known outdoor writer. His work is distributed by the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. He can be reached by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com. |
