The tundra swan stranded on Big Lake may have met a grisly end, say local observers.
St. Albert river watchers spotted an adult tundra swan wandering around a small patch of open water on Big Lake earlier this month. The bird was apparently part of a larger flock of swans that had left the lake after a major snowfall. Local birders speculated that the bird was wounded or too old, sick or weak to migrate.
With the lake freezing over and the ice too thin to attempt a rescue, local wildlife experts said that the bird was probably doomed. It was last seen alive on Nov. 21.
Local lake watcher Sharon Tansey said she visited the Big Lake Environment Support Society’s viewing platform on Saturday at about 8 a.m. and saw evidence that the swan had been killed.
“There were feathers next to the puddle where the swan has been and a couple of little blood spots,” Tansey said. “It was definitely swan feathers down there.” She also saw some “dark bits” near the feathers and unidentified animal prints between the puddle and the feathers.
Tansey said that she had sighted an adult bald eagle and a “ratty looking coyote” in the area a few days before, both of which could have killed the swan. “Somebody got him,” she said of the swan. “I have no idea who.”
Naturalist Ludo Bogaert, who had photographed the swan, said he had not seen it since Nov. 19. Although he did not see the remains Tansey noticed, he agreed with her assessment. “It was a dead swan walking.”
Resident Hermi Pichl, who reported the swan’s situation last week, declined to comment on this development.
