Burlington'sTrumpeter Swans

Trumpeter Swans were extirpated in Ontario with the last recorded Trumpeter Swan being shot at Long Point in 1886. A restoration effort began in 1982 bringing the population back to approximately 800 to1000 swans.

Approximately 25% of the provincial flock has chosen LaSalle Park in Burlington as their wintering habitat.

• Swans require open water to feed, bathe and rest, they also require minimum radius of 100 meters for take-offs and landings.

• LaSalle Park Marina is currently working on a plan to expand the marina to 340 permanent boat slips with a fixed wave break in their current wintering habitat. This could result in a negative impact, devastating to this fragile population. The development could reduce their feeding and wintering site, resulting in overcrowding and increasing the potential for disease.

What Can You Do? Take Action!

• Contact Burlington's  Mayor & City Councillors to share your viewpoint

• Encourage your friends, family & others in your neighbourhood to become involved to speak up on this issue.

• You can learn more about this important issue below and you can add your viewpoint in the comments section at the bottom of this article. You can meet Beverly  at our March 20 Eco-Film Festival - learn more HERE.

From: The Ontario Trumpeter Swan Restoration Group

November 29 2012

One quarter of Ontario's rare Trumpeter Swans are being threatened by a proposed marina expansion at LaSalle Park in Burlington, Ontario.

Trumpeter swans were hunted out of existence in the Province with the last one being shot at Long Point in 1886. Almost 100 years later, in 1982, they were reintroduced in the Province by retired Ministry of Natural Resources Biologist Harry Lumsden who gathered a dedicated team of volunteers to raise Trumpeter Swan cygnets from eggs flown in from B.C. and Alaska.

"It would be a tragedy if these majestic birds were to disappear again," says Beverly Kingdon, a volunteer with the Ontario Trumpeter Swan Restoration Group (OTSRG) who has been tagging and collecting data on the swans, who overwinter at LaSalle Park, since 1993.

She notes that it has taken 30 years of dedicated work by a handful of volunteers to achieve a self-sustaining population of 1,000 Trumpeter Swans in the Province. To have the 200 plus swans who have selected LaSalle Park as their ideal winter home put in jeopardy, for the benefit of boaters who could avail themselves of many other marina options, doesn't sit well with her.

"What has been proposed will make it impossible for the swans to over-winter there," she says and with so much development around the lake, there are few other options for them.

"The most serious threat to our fragile population of Trumpeter Swans in this Province is the loss of wintering habitat to expanding human populations," notes Kingdon. Urban expansion, rural residential development and recreation often preferentially occur in and adjacent to environments preferred by swans; namely large, clean, calm and productive water bodies. The LaSalle Marina project is a perfect example how habitat loss can impact a threatened species.

Development plans that concern the OTSRG include:

Construction Schedule —Trumpeter swans arrive in LaSalle in late October/earlyNovember and leave in March. Currently, construction has been scheduled for September to December.

A wavebreak — Without the movement of waves the water in LaSalle harbour will freeze, making it impossible for the swans to feed. Mechanical aerators have been proposed to keep the water open but they have a history of failure.

A permanent wavebreak and longer dock — this will confine the swans in a smaller area and not allow them the space they need to land and take-off. Trumpeter swans require a large open radius of 100 meters for running take-offs and landings as they are a 747-sizedbird with an 8-foot wing span. As well, the undisturbed open water area must be adequate to allow the swans to feed, rest and bathe during the day and have night resting space. As the largest swan in the world they do not huddle like ducks and have personal, territorial space needs.

Any change to water level — Trumpeter Swans tip their heads to gather food, they arenot divers so they need open shallow water of a feeding depth no deeper that 3 ½ feet. 

Including berths for personal watercraft — the use of seadoos and the like is not compatible with swans. These noisy machines will cause more disturbance than the swans can bear, plus PWC riders are active for a much longer season than sailboaters,riding in October and November and March and April when the swans are still in the area.

 Increased traffic on the beach area — The swans also require sufficient day time land resting area and currently use the entire beach area adjacent to the boardwalk.

The OTSRG has brought their concerns to the attention of Burlington's Council, City staff, the consultants for the marina project and the Burlington Waterfront Committee but so far, they have not seen any substantive changes to the plan that would protect this critical Trumpeter Swan habitat.

The loss of this flock would also be a great loss to research into Trumpeter Swans. "The concentration of winter swans at LaSalle Park is not available anywhere else in Canada," says Kingdon.

The information collected by OTSRG over the past 30 years, including data on their movements, productivity and survival totalling more than 50,000 records that is housed in a database at the University of Guelph, has provided invaluable information for scientists.

Kingdon says the Trumpeter Swans have also become a popular attraction on the Burlington lakefront for citizens with many people visiting the area just to enjoy the sight of these majestic birds.

"I think if the public understood what a significant threat this marina project is to the swans, they would protest, but most people I've talked to don't even know about it," says Kingdon.

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