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Swan Saga Continues

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Swan Saga Continues

Written by Gary Ivey PhD/ Photos by John Megan, USFWS 

Here’s an April 2025 update on the seven Trumpeter Swans marked on Malheur Refuge’s Benson Pond in February 2023 with GPS-GSM neck collars to track their migration. Of these seven, four are no longer active (@13, @16, @17, @19); three of those last transmitted data in April 2024, and one in July 2023. The remaining three are still transmitting data this year. I am also including a discussion of swan @12 in this report (marked at Summer Lake Wildlife Area).

Due to extensive runoff, the Diamond Swamp/Diamond Valley area flooded and attracted the swans to that area after they spent most of the winter at Benson Pond and Boca Lake.

Neck collar code @10. The last data we received from her was February 10 this year. She used Benson Pond, Boca Lake and Diamond Swamp (her latest location) on Malheur Refuge this winter.
Neck collar code @11. The last data we received from her was March 2 this year.  She also used Benson Pond, Boca Lake and Diamond Swamp (her latest location) on Malheur Refuge this winter.
Neck collar code @20. The last data we received from him was March 26 this year.  He also used Benson Pond, Boca Lake most of the winter, and in early February moved up to Diamond Swamp. In mid-to late February, he used Buena Vista Ponds and other sites north of there before moving up to Malheur Lake in late February. After using the lake for a couple of weeks, he moved to Wright’s Pond for a bit before returning to Malheur Lake until he migrated north on March 18. He arrived in the Flathead Lake basin on March 19, and used wetlands between Flathead Lake and Kalispell through March 26.
Neck collar code @12. This adult female was one of the five that were marked at Summer Lake Wildlife Area. She returned to winter at Summer Lake in 2023, but in December of 2024 she arrived at Malheur Lake where she spent the winter with her family, until February 10, when she moved south to use wetlands in the Blitzen Valley, including Diamond Swamp, Benson Pond, Boca Lake, and Mud Creek Pond. On February 18, she flew to Mann Lake to spend 5 days, before flying to Idaho to use wetlands NE of Emmett, Idaho, and along the Snake River, south of Ontario, OR. On March 2, she returned to Malheur Lake to remain there until March 25, when she moved north to spend one night at a small wetland north of Crane, OR. She departed north the next morning. While at Malheur Lake, she posed for a photo opp. Senior Federal Wildlife Officer, John Megan took a cell phone photo of @12 with her mate and one cygnet at the Malheur Lake boat landing, north of Refuge HQ on March 7.

 

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