As you can see from the post before this, Traverse City sits at the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay. This flows south in a small river into a lake, which the city folds around on all sides. At the south end of the lake is the Medalie Roadside Park.
I took a walk there today along the paths, enjoying the water that had thawed and the wildlife (the bay is still frozen). Besides Canadian geese and seagulls, there were about 40+ swans floating about.
Year-round swans are part of the habitat up here. There are both Trumpeter and Mute swans. And for a short time in the spring, the Tundra swan swings by during it's migration.
The Trumpeter swan has an all black bill, and are the world's largest waterfowl. They were one time plentiful, but human development and over-hunting paid a heavy price, and by 1933 there were only 66 trumpeter swans left in the west and Alaska. Michigan started an active re-introduction program in the 1980's, and by 2000 there were 400 birds in the wild.
The Muties are non-native and are bullies- they tend to take over and push all the native birds out of the way. They have an orange bill. While their babies (cygnets) are still in the nest, they can be quite agressive towards humans, pets, and boats.
Elk Rapids even has a giant swan statue for tourist photo ops. Say 'cheese'....
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