Six Swans a-Swimming.  Trumpeter swans patrol the south shore of Big Detroit Lake in Minnesota.  The birds have staged a comeback over the last half century thanks to restocking efforts and conservation of vital shoreline habitat. Simonson Photo

By Nick Simonson

There against the backdrop of the remaining golds, reds and browns along the empty shoreline sat six symbols of sorts, their arching necks and large bodies afloat on the silver waters of mid-autumn amidst the smaller waterfowl such as mallards and Canada geese on the south side of lake.  With no whirring wakeboard boats or even any docks, lifts, or foam swimming pads and only a scattering of the stalwart muskie anglers the water is known for each openwater season, the two parents stood out in bright white, while the four dusky gray youngsters followed behind them. Due simply to their large size and the open nature of the autumn shoreline, they were easy to see as a harbinger of the season, especially with a downturn in the forecast expected from the enjoyable temperatures the region has been experiencing this autumn.

Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl species in North America, with wingspans of up to six feet, dwarfing the more common and much smaller snow geese they sometimes get mistaken for this time of year as those birds begin to migrate into the area.  Taking their name from the notes of their call, which indeed sounds like a trumpet and is much deeper than the higher-pitched tones of the tundra swan which can occasionally be seen traveling through the region this time of year, trumpeter swans nest and raise their young throughout the northern tier of Minnesota with other populations scattered throughout the United States.

As with many unique waterfowl species, the trumpeter swan was hunted to the brink of extinction for its skins, plumage and meat throughout the 1800s and development of their waterside habitat in the 1900s added to their declines. They were nearly extirpated from the continental United States, with a small population of only a few dozen surviving into the early 1900s in isolated areas of Yellowstone National Park.  The discovery of a few thousand trumpeters in a stretch of Alaska in the 1950s provided stock for a repopulation effort beginning shortly thereafter with federal and state protections rolled out for the birds. From that point in the middle of last century, trumpeter swans have rebounded thanks to careful restocking and conservation efforts, and a total of 46,000 birds was reported in 2010, with an estimated population of around 63,000 breeding swans now present in North America according to the conservation group Partners in Flight.  In Minnesota, the population has grown so significantly in the past several decades that the state has removed it from its endangered species list, a victory for sure.

Here and there over the past ten years, I’ve seen a pair tucked into the reeds along roadside sloughs and small lakes along the Highway 10 corridor while traveling to the cabin, or while winding my way into northeastern Minnesota up the forested Highway 34 to visit family.  Their bright white stands out against the lush summer greens of reeds and backwater vegetation where the birds often reside during the nesting and rearing seasons.  Never before though had I seen six together, and certainly never four young ones with their parents, with usually a single chick or perhaps a pair under the care of the swans I had happened upon in my adventures.  Even with the leaves falling in the slight southern breeze along the shoreline and the shift to winter coming, the half dozen large waterfowl provided a unique experience and hope for the future and an opportunity to learn more about them.  Certainly, if this species could be brought back from the brink, many others around the world can be too, and the happy ending thus far in the success story of the trumpeter swan, can be a song of inspiration for other conservation programs and the protection and restoration of many additional species…in our outdoors.