Trumpeter Swan 87Y Released, Lead Poisoning Survivor

Hello Everyone, We had a wonderful release celebration with the release of one of the Trumpeter Swans that was admitted in January with an extreamly high lead level. The bird was known as T50 for his collar marker. The collar is a yellow plastic unit placed on the birds neck by the State of Wisconsin Bureau of Endangered Resources in a effort to better follow and keep track of Trumpter Swans in the State of Wisconsin. The bright yellow and black letter and number combination are easy to see even from a distance and keepo the birds whereabouts known to biologists. The collars also identify the birds and the state is able to know very quickly the birds entire history including his parents and other history. T50 is fourteen years old. His story is best told in some of the news articles I will include in this blog entry. When T50 was admitted to REGI we had to remove the collar for health concerns. A new collar was put on by Avian Ecologist Pat Manthey of the State of WI DNR/BER. The bird now has a new number and from time forward will be known as 87Y. I have to admit it will be hard to get used to the new "name". The release took place late last week. Barry Wallace, swan watcher and very important person in this entire episode has sent photos almost daily since the release documenting 87Ys progress. Lead poisoning is a hard problem to overcome. We are very hopeful that the bird will remain an active part of the breeding population of Trumpeter Swans in Wisconsin. I will attach below a link to one of the articles written about the release and the history of the former T50 and now 87Y. Thanks to Barry, Mary, Kathy. Pat and everyone that was involved in this success story. I always tell people it takes many people to create a success in wildlife issues and that could not be more true in this case. We can help wildlife here at REGI but it is often the public that alerts us to a situation and brings them to us and monitors the birds post release. You guys are just the best. http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/articles/index.cfm?id=33378§ion=homepage