Follow the Leader
by Gary Hall
Title
Follow the Leader
Artist
Gary Hall
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The trumpeter swan is the largest waterfowl in North America. These magnificent birds, once indigenous to Ontario, disappeared from the province in the 1880s. It was apparently in 1886 when a hunter on Long Point shot the last migrating swan. Fast forward to 1982, almost 100 years later, when a biologist, Harry Lumsden and a group of dedicated volunteers started to bring Trumpeters back to Ontario. The first Trumpeter eggs were hatched in Mute Swan nests. Each adult bird was tagged so that they could be tracked. Now, in 2014, Trumpeters are again becoming a common sight on Ontario lakes and ponds. Things haven't completely returned to normal for the Ontario Trumpeter. The original birds that were reintroduced to Ontario, were raised in captivity and had no need to migrate. Since young birds learn migration behavior from their parents, most Ontario Trumpeters do not migrate to warmer climates in the winter so, therefore, still rely on volunteers for food and open water. At this point, the migration pattern tends to be from Lake Huron and the Muskoka lakes to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, a relatively short distance. Although the reintroduction of the Trumpeter Swan has been a wonderful success, for the restoration to be complete, the swans will have to learn to migrate to their ancestral wintering grounds in the Southern United States.
Uploaded
January 2nd, 2014
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