Wounded swan cared for in Sisters

Wildlife agents found a severely wounded adult trumpeter swan at the Summer Lake Wildlife Management Area last week and transported the bird to Broken Top Veterinarian Clinic located on Highway 20 between Bend and Sisters.

The wounded bird was checked over by the staff of Broken Top who contacted Elise Wolf of Native Bird Care, a Sisters wildlife rehabber. After a quick analysis of the condition of the swan, Wolf took it to the Oregon Veterinary Referral Associates over in Springfield for care. It took over four hours for Dr. Curt Daly and his staff to remove shotgun pellets lodged throughout the swan's body, and repair two broken bones in the left wing.

That's when the laborious task of caring for the swan became a full-time job for Wolf. She has specific experience with swans.

In 2014, Wolf became the principal caregiver of a trumpeter swan she named "Grace," who was suffering from a fishing lure embedded in its mouth. At the time, she had only limited facilities for caring for the largest waterbird in North America, but she made the most of what she had.

She released the swan on the Deschutes near Bend. The magnificent bird eventually made its way to Sunriver, where the staff of the Nature Center immediately established a nesting site for Grace and her new mate, where they successfully raised two cygnets.

When Wolf went down to Sunriver to see the new family, she called to the swan, who quickly responded to her voice, and calling to her mate and offspring, came over to see her old friend who got her through the fishing lure crisis.

Perhaps the plight of the present swan will also end like that, but for the moment, it's pretty tough going for both swan and Wolf.

Feeding the injured animal demands a diet that's not easily come by. Marty St. Louis, manager of the Summer Lake Wildlife Management Area, sent along buckets of vegetation with the swan that will keep the injured bird going on native food until she becomes comfortable with eating commercial swan mix.

Wolf spends hours consulting about "Hope" with other rehabbers around the country, such as Renee Schott at a waterfowl rehab facility in Minnesota.

Twice a day she has to enter the "waterfowl recovery room" - an addition to the Wolf home especially built for swans in 2014 - to change bandages and administer medicines to fight infection in the wounds. Her visits are not well received by the huge swan, who, if she's rattled enough, could hurt herself, and/or Wolf. But all comes into focus with Wolf's love of what she does for wildlife.

How, why, and who shot the swan in the wildlife area is undergoing investigation. The trumpeter is a protected species, this one wearing a bright green collar that is impossible to miss, and the bird itself difficult to be misidentified as a tundra, a smaller swan that can be legally hunted.

The trumpeter swan is an "indicator species" of healthy wetlands and waterways where waterfowl should thrive in clean waters and high-quality habitats capable of supporting myriad plant and animal species. Trumpeters are also symbols of hope - showing that science, partnerships, and perseverance can bring a species back from the brink of extinction.

By 1933, fewer than 70 wild trumpeters were known to exist, and extinction seemed imminent, until aerial surveys discovered a Pacific population of several thousand trumpeters in Alaska. Then, careful reintroductions by wildlife agencies and the Trumpeter Swan Society gradually restored the North American wild population to over 46,000 birds today.

ODFW's Waterfowl Stamp Program and USFW's "Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program" has helped immeasurably Also, several smaller-scale private wetland projects have been accomplished with combined funds from ODFW's Habitat and Access Program in the Summer Lake Wildlife Area vicinity.

Now Elise Wolf and her Native Bird Care facilities is deep into the trumpeter swan conservation effort. But she has to use her personal funds to keep doing what she's doing. At some point she wants to get Hope a pool so she can be more comfortable.

The public can donate to by going to www.nativebirdcare.org, where you can also see photos of Hope and Wolf's other feathered patients. You can also search for her charges on Facebook.