All's well that ends well

May 9th, another visit to Belle Isle and possibly my last for this spring, especially as I feel I have basically lived there this past six weeks.  Time to move on and prepare for an upcoming birding trip in Europe.  More to come about that sometime in June.  If I can snatch another Belle Isle visit in the next week great, but for now it's sayonara (さよなら).  Will return in June when dragonflies are flying

My May 9th visit had a surprise element.  I came upon my fishing lure hooked Mute Saw again in the Nashua Canal in the exact same location only on the other side of the canal nearer to the athletic building.  The bird was tucked up and sleeping.  I almost left it at that but then a Great Lakes Water Authority truck arrived and a guy began checking the pump (that's the big metal box where water discharges into the canal on a fairly regular basis -  I apologize, one has to be well-acquainted with Belle Isle for this information to have any significance).  Both the arrival of the GLWA guy and my presence startled the swan awake and, wait, no fishing lure hanging from its bill!   I looked at the bird closely.  It was surely the same bird.    Here it was, a single Mute Swan in the exact same location as it had been the day before.  When I got home I studied my pre and post photos carefully.  I tried to make a pre and post side-by-side photo of the bird's head and neck but I couldn't figure out the process for doing this. 

Sans fishing lure.

I have three thoughts as to how the swan rid itself of the fishing lure.  1.  The lure dislodged on its own during the bird's feeding or preening activities.  2.  A good samaritan saw this swan, somehow captured it and removed the fishing lure.  3.  A DNR park employee was also monitoring the bird and found an opportunity to do the same thing.  

Surprised and pleased by this outcome, I left the bird as I found it.  Hopefully, and for a final time, fishermen, don't cut the line! 

All's well that ends well.  Thank you William Shakespeare.

 

Add-on later today

In the May 12 & 19, 2025 double-issue print edition of The New Yorker magazine, Ian Frazier has published Pigeon Toes: How humble birds brave the city on bare feet, pages 28-32.  On-line, from May 5th, 2025, the same essay is titled Pity the Barefoot Pigeon.  Birders know how dangerous humans are to birds in both big and small ways.  Frazier's essay takes this to a different level with birds we think we despise.  I challenge readers to read the essay.  My hunch is that you will no longer despise pigeons.  I have a good friend with a deep compassion for pigeons.  She says, "they are domestic birds."  I've never despised pigeons per se, but I learned things I never knew and now feel much more compassion for them.    

Still alive ...

... I was wrong.

My last two posts were essentially about this swan and what to do if you hook a bird while fishing.  Hint:  don't cut the line! 

This is the first time I have seen this swan after hypothesizing that it was probably dead.  But yesterday mid-day here it was again, alone and vigorously preening in the Nashua Canal west of the bridge (across from the athletic building and near the tennis courts.)

Fishing lure still hanging.  Every so often the swan shook its head back and forth a couple of times; the same behavior I observed when I first saw the swan on Saturday, April 26th.  Perhaps this is an effort to adjust the position of the hanging fishing lure.  The swan seemed robust.  I didn't see it paddling so I don't know if the listing-to-the-left, which I observed the first and second time, is still present.

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I wonder if there will be a way for the swan, on its own, to dislodge the fishing lure.

Oh, you say, it's just a Mute Swan, an invasive, non-native.  Don't worry about it.  And, truthfully, I never guessed I would spend so much blog time on a Mute Swan.  No!  This is hardly the point. This bird could just as easily be a Trumpeter Swan, a Great Blue Heron, a Northern Shoveler, a Red-breasted merg, a Belted Kingfisher, an Eastern Screech Owl, a Herring Gull (scroll down).  It could be, and often is, a Brown Pelican.  You get the point.  This time of year a Mute swan would not normally be seen alone.  It would be paired up and its mate would be somewhere nearby.  It bothers me.  I hope it bothers you, too.  

Again, Fishermen - what to do if you hook a bird! 

I met up with another birder, Lorri W., and pointed the bird out to her. By this time, it had finished its preening and was sleeping with head tucked.

Fishermen - what to do if you hook a bird

On April 27th I wrote "A river runs through it" (no, not the Norman Maclean story) and yesterday, May 2nd, I listened to the ABA podcast. Even in blog writing things can occur serendipitously.  Recognizing that a fisherman is highly unlikely to ever read this blog, or that a birder is almost equally as unlikely to read an addendum posted at the end of one, I prepared this stand alone entry.  The photos below were taken a week ago and this observation continues to bother me.      

In the American Birding Podcast for May 1st, host Nate Swick and his guest panel Gabriel Foley, Frank Izaguirre and Purbita Saha reviewed the article titled:  Angler perceptions of pelican entanglement reveal opportunities for seabird conservation on fishing piers in Tampa Bay by B. Alexander Simmons. 

A very quick review: the article is an extensive study and review of anglers attitudes, perceptions and awareness about pelican entanglement in fishing gear and anglers confidence for knowing what to do if a pelican becomes entangled and opportunities for angler education.  Hint:  don't cut the line. 

From the Florida Audubon:  Fishermen's Tips for Releasing a Hooked Bird. 

Finally, I found this mesmerizing fifteen minute You Tube video from Last Cast Adventures titled:  What to do if you ACCIDENTALLY hook a BIRD - Cormorant.  

Fifteen minutes might be a time deterrent for some viewers to watch but I watched the entire video and found it fascinating.  I was struck by a few things.  1.  The guy making the video is an earnest and highly skilled fisherman.  2.  He was fishing alone from a kayak.  He must have been wearing a GoPro camera.  3.  He was persistent.  4.  One needs to be careful.  5.  I was struck by the fact that it is probably possible to intentionally hook a bird.

The comment that the young Belle Isle fisherman made to me "Yeah, it looks like someone hooked it and then cut the line" (again see 'A river runs though it') suggests that he knew the line should not have been cut. Until I heard the ABA podcast yesterday I didn't know this and would never have done this bit of research to educate myself.  I have often been struck by some of the similarities between birding and fishing. People do both either alone or with companions. People have a variety of skill levels.  Just as there are rules for responsible birding etiquette, there are also rules for responsible fishing etiquette.    

As I write in "A river runs through it" this is the second time this year I have seen a hooked and doomed bird.  Thanks to Nate Swick who suggested that this particular article be reviewed and presented on the American Birding Podcast.  I've said it many times, highly recommend this podcast for birders.  You never know what you will learn.

Of note:  I made two more visits to Belle Isle since seeing the Mute Swan on Nashua Canal.  The first revisit was two days later and I saw the bird again on Muskovy Lake.  I identified it by its skinny neck and the way it was listing to the left while paddling.  It was alone.  Two days later again I went to specifically find this Mute Swan - I counted 17 - but none were the hooked bird.