Avian rescues, Kentuck Lake residents unite to save trapped trumpeter swan

A close call for a young trumpeter swan had a happy ending earlier this month thanks to assistance from a group of dedicated animal rehabilitators and residents on Kentuck Lake in Vilas County.
The cygnet — that was trapped on the icy lake with falling temperatures and hungry bald eagles on the prowl — is now being treated by avian experts at Raptor Education Group, Inc. (REGI) in Antigo for a right wing injury and lead poisoning.
Linda and Kevin Grenzer, who operate the nonprofit organization Loon Rescue based in Tomahawk, received a call Sunday, Dec. 1, from concerned property owner Tim Bonk regarding a young swan, or cygnet, that was unable to migrate with its family ahead of the incoming cold winter weather.
On Thanksgiving Day, Bonk said he noticed the family of swans would take off calling, but then return in an attempt to coax the cygnet to come with them. With cold temperatures on the way, and open water shrinking due to ice cover, the family had to start its migration south.
By Sunday, as Bonk was leaving his property, he realized there was a solo swan sitting on thin ice at the edge of open water. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he called Loon Rescue for aid.

Sunday night’s temperatures dropped into the single digits, and Kentuck Lake was completely frozen over by Monday morning. The Grenzers checked with two lake residents — Maribeth Park and Kathy Brah — whom they had worked with in the past for a loon rescue, and the two confirmed there was in fact a lone swan on the ice.
“Kentuck is a large, 1,000-acre lake, but that did not stop them from checking on this swan, which they located,” Linda Grenzer said. “The only problem was this cygnet, who was trying to fly but could not, was out in the center of extremely thin ice.”
Although lake residents were playing swan calls from the shoreline and putting out food in the hopes the cygnet would come off the thin ice on its own, the bird refused to budge.
“The next three days were windy and cold with bone-chilling nights,” Grenzer said. “The cygnet would not come to the shoreline and would only move a short distance, but stayed smack-dab in the center of the lake.”
In addition to the cold temps and water freezing to ice, the situation got even more dire for the cygnet when bald eagles located the injured bird, circling and harassing it.
Grenzer noted that ice thickness near the shoreline was only around 1.5 to 3 inches thick, so there was not enough ice for a rescue attempt to safely be made in the middle of the lake. To make matters more difficult, birds like swans, pelicans and geese are able to run away from rescuers, whereas loons cannot.

Drones to the rescue

With rescue options running thin, Bonk made the drive back to his property here Friday, Dec. 6, to attempt to use his drone to push the cygnet closer to shore.
“The drone measured that the swan was about 2,000 feet from the shoreline. It was bitter cold, and Tim had two batteries with about 15 minutes of flying time each,” Grenzer said. “He got the swan to move a couple hundred feet, but then had to recharge the batteries.”
On his second attempt, Bonk was able to move the swan another 550 feet closer to shore, but on his final attempt the cygnet had become used to the drone and only moved about 10 more feet, leaving the bird about 1,450 feet from shore.

Bonk again tried to play swan calls from the shoreline using a bluetooth speaker in the hopes the cygnet would be able to hear it and be lured closer still. To his surprise, it worked!
Once the cygnet made it to Bonk’s shoreline, he called the Grenzers to make the drive up from their home base in Tomahawk.
It had come closer to shore, but the cygnet had not made it to safety yet. While Bonk and Grenzer were on the phone, an eagle “dropped like a missile over the swan.”
Armed with a muskie net, Bonk said he made “a 50-yard sprint” and was able to safely net the cygnet, with the eagle sitting about 10 feet away from the exhausted bird.
When the Grenzers arrived, Bonk and the bird were safely on his porch.
They drove the injured cygnet 1.5 hours to Antigo where REGI director Marge Gibson met them after-hours to perform X-rays and blood work.
Grenzer said without these rescue efforts, she expects the cygnet would have met a sad end in a matter of days, either from predation by eagles, freezing or starvation.
“This sweet cygnet has been through a lot these past days, but hopefully much better days are ahead thanks to Tim’s valiant rescue and REGI’s amazing care,” Grenzer said. “Tim was a super hero with what he did.”

REGI steps in

Now safely housed at REGI, healing has begun. It was discovered that a swollen right wing, feather damage and lead poisoning affected the cygnet, making it unable to migrate with its family, according to Gibson.

“Before capture, the swan had a rough time on the frozen lake. She was there alone for the first time since she hatched after her parents had to leave on migration,” she said.
But she expects the young cygnet will be reunited with its family next spring after it receives treatment for lead poisoning and resolution of its wing and feather issues.
“Birds are amazing in their ability to migrate and return to the same site each year. They do return to the same site and will be able to locate her family,” Gibson said.
The swan rescue likely also served the eagle, as eagles are prone to getting poisoned by lead by eating infected meats or fish.

Public help necessary

Gibson has worked closely with the Grenzers in the past to help avians suffering from injury, lead poisoning and other afflictions. She expressed her gratitude to them, as well as to the residents who sounded the alarm on the injured cygnet.
“This rescue was a race against time, a true test of the skills and determination of both Loon Rescue and Tim Bonk,” Gibson said. “Loon Rescue puts so much into planning and executing captures, which are literally on ‘thin ice’ this time of year.
“We are so grateful to members of the public and residents for their crucial role in reporting birds in trouble and for helping with capture. Without the public alerting Loon Rescue and REGI to a bird in trouble, we would never know and, therefore, be unable to help.”
Anyone who needs assistance with injured birds can contact Loon Rescue at 715-966-5415 or 715-453-4916; or REGI at 715-623-4015 or raptoreducationgroup@gmail.com. More information also can be found online at raptoreducationgroup.org.