Wednesday, July 09, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

Foul Thinking on the Bay (Washington [D.C.] Post - 07/09/03):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29986-2003Jul8.html


Current News Articles (2):

Don’t Make Swans Scapegoats for Bay’s Problems (Baltimore [Maryland] Sun - 07/08/03):
http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.swans08jul08,0,6989586.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

Swans: Feathered Friend or Foe? Opinions Differ on Whether or Not to Shoot the Birds to Control Population (Framington [Massachusetts] MetroWest Daily News - 07/08/03):
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/fram_swans07082003.htm

Monday, July 07, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

Reflection Leaves this Whitetail Running for Cover (Easton [Maryland] Democrat - 07/07/03 [NOTE: Scroll to bottom of page for Mute Swan item]): In his Up the Creek column, Keith Waters briefly describes a telephone conference call organized for the news media by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on 07/03/03 to answer questins about the then-released Environmental Assessment on the management of Mute Swans in the Atlantic Flyway.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=9387588&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=392208&rfi=6

Saturday, July 05, 2003

Current News Articles (2):

FWS Environ. Assessment - Mute Swan/Atlantic Flyway - Can We Send United Response? (Ornithology listserv - 07/05/03): In response to the release of the draft Mute Swan EA, William J. Sladen, director of the Swan Research Program in Warrenton, Virginia, proposes that the SRP join forces with the American Bird Conservatory and the Ornithological Council in preparing "a united scientific statement" on the management of Mute Swans.
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/ORNL.html#1057423243

Readers' Views (Annapolis [Maryland] Capital - 07/05/03): In a letter entitled "Too Many People," Kecia Wynne argues that it is humans, not Mute Swans, who are "invasive" and responsible for the problems confonting the Chesapeake Bay.
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/live/07_05-05/OPN

Thursday, July 03, 2003

Current News Articles (3):

Mute Swan Extermination May be On Again (WJZ.com [Baltimore, Maryland] - 07/03/03): The headline for this 4-paragraph story is attention-grabbing but, unfortunately, quite misleading.
http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_184181235.html

Swan Slaughter Given Go-Ahead (Washington [D.C.] Post - 07/03/03): This 13-paragraph article by Anita Huslin includes quotes from Maryland DNR deputy secretary Michael Slattery, USFWS assistant director Paul Schmidt, and Save Our Swans USA president Kathryn Burton.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1155-2003Jul2.html

State May Resume Killing Mute Swans to Save Bay (Annapolis [Maryland] Capital - 07/03/03): This story by Jessica R. Towhey notes that the State of Maryland could resume killing Mute Swans as early as this month if a proposal released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is approved. This 17-paragraph article includes quotes from USFWS assistant director Paul Schmidt, Maryland DNR associate director Jonathon McKnight, and Gerald Winegrad of the American Bird Conservancy.
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2003/07_03-39/TOP

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Current News Articles (8):

Save Maryland’s Swans Action Alert (Save Maryland’s Swans - 07/02/03): This action from SMS notes the release by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the draft Mute Swan environmental assessment and encourages people opposed to the preferred alternative to send comments to the USFWS “in support of the survival of the Mute Swan.”
http://www.savemarylandswans.org/alert070203.htm

Federal Ruling Favors Md. Plan to Shoot Swans (Baltimore [Maryland] Sun - 07/02/03): This 17-paragraph story by Dennis O’Brien includes quotes from USFWS assistant director Paul Schmidt, Maryland DNR biologist Michael Slattery, Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral, and Maryland landowner and lawsuit plaintiff Patrick Hornberger.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-swans0703,0,2686793.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

City Spotlight (Melrose [Massachusetts] Free Press - 07/02/03 [NOTE: Scroll half-way down page for swan item]: After a tragedy last year, a pair of Mute Swans on Melrose’s Ell Pond has produced two cygnets. “Bird watchers will tell you this . . . [is] an invasive species, but it’s hard not to like those fluffy critters [the cygnets]. Just remember -- they are wild animals, not toys, and they have a very protective father, so it’s best to enjoy them from a distance. And, don’t feed them!”
http://www.townonline.com/melrose/news/opinion/mfp_colmfspot07022003.htm

Feds Propose to Resume Mute Swan Kill (WBAL [Baltimore, Maryland - 07/02/03): This 4-paragraph story attributed to the Associated Press notes that, under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal, States could resume killing Mute Swans as early as August and that “the goal is to reduce the number of Mute Swans in 17 Atlantic Coast states from 14,000 to fewer than 3,000 during the next 10 years or so.” [In fact, the number is about 4,675.--Ed.]
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2308222/detail.html

USFWS Issues Draft Env. Assessment on Mute Swan Management, Requests Comments (Ornithology listserv - 07/02/03): Ellen Paul, executive director of The Ornithological Council, posts a copy of the Federal Register notice of availability in its entirely.
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/ORNL.html#1057155139

Draft Environmental Assessment of the Management of Mute Swans in the Atlantic Flyway (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - 07/02/03): This EA on management of Mute Swans in the Atlantic Flyway assess four alternatives: no action, the proposed action of lethal control, egg addling, and non-lethal control techniques only. Includes links to 4 appendices, inlcuding the Maryland Mute Swan Management Plan and the draft Atlantic Flyway Mute Swan Management Plan.
http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/issues/muteswan/swanea2003.pdf

Service Releases Draft Environmental Assessment of the Management of Mute Swans in the Atlantic Flyway (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - 07/02/03): Announcement of the availability for public comment of an EA on management of Mute Swans that assesses four alternatives: no action, the proposed action of lethal control, egg addling, and non-lethal control techniques only. Includes Q&A’s about Mute Swans and the proposed action.
http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/r9/60852176-860B-43E8-A08C6F67FA01192B.html
http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/issues/muteswan/q&a%27s.htm


Draft Environmental Assessment on Management of Mute Swans in the Atlantic Flyway (Federal Register - 07/02/03): The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces the availability of this EA and requests public comments, which are due by 07/16/03.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-16699.htm

Monday, June 30, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

No Swans Hatching: Manlius Worried (Syracuse [New York] Post-Standard - 06/30/03): Staff writer Mike Fish reports that officials of Manlius, New York, are worred that a pair of Mute Swans--the stately symbols of this 190-year-old village--is not reproducing, causing a hiatus in the village’s adopt-a-swan program.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1056962132261661.xml

Sunday, June 29, 2003

Current News Articles (2):

Overall, Local Beaches Are Fine (Framingham [Massachusetts] MetroWest Daily News - 06/29/03): An exact duplicate of the article noted below.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/beach06292003.htm

Overall, Local Beaches Are Fine (Milford [Massachusetts] Daily News - 06/29/03): This article by staff writer Peter Reuell about water quality at local bathing beaches includes the following note: “’Our biggest problem in Framingham are geese, and lately swans,’ [Director of Public Health Robert] Cooper said. ‘The droppings cause problems. They put out many times more bacteria per gram than humans do.’”
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/local_regional/beach06292003.htm

Saturday, June 28, 2003

This Week in Review (June 22-28, 2003):

Current News Items: Additions this week: 3. Cumulative to date: 164. News about Mute Swans continues to be muted. Other Online Documents: Additions this week: 0. Cumulative to data: 47 items from 26 sources.

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Current News Articles (2):

Sight of Swans Attract Crowds, Cause Problems (Bourne [Massachusetts] Upper Cape Codder - 06/25/03): People stopping along a busy thoroughfare in Sandwich, Massachusetts, to feed a brood of mute swans have caused traffic hazards.
http://www.townonline.com/bourne/news/local_regional/newucsswans06252003.htm

Corps Rangers Trying to Move Geese to More Remote Areas of Lake Shelbyville (Matoon [Illinois] Journal Gazette and Charleston [Illinois] Times-Courier - 06/25/03): Among the many techniques being considered by the Corps of Engineers to discourage growing numbers of Canada Geese from using a popular bathing beach at this Corps public facility near Shelbyville, Illinois, is the use of “decoys of swans, the natural enemy of geese.”
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2003/06/25/news/news04.txt

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

If Croakers Are Here, Where Are the Trout? (Easton [Maryland] Star-Democrat - 06/22/03 [NOTE: Scroll to bottom of page for Mute Swan note]): In his Up the Creek column, Keith Walters conveys the news, as reported by Maryland DNR waterfowl biologist Larry Hindman, that 24 female Mute Swans on the Chesapeake Bay have now been fitted with radio transmitters, and that another 20 radio collars will be placed on birds prior to the annual summer molt.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8527745&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=392208&rfi=6

Saturday, June 21, 2003

This Week in Review (June 15-21, 2003):

Current News Items: Additions this week: 2. Cumulative to date: 161. Another slow news week for Mute Swans. Other Online Documents: Additions this week: 0. Cumulative to date: 47 items from 26 sources.

Current News Articles (2):

Owner of Illegal Deer to Be Tried (Seattle Post-Intelligencer - 06/21/03): This article by Jennifer Langston notes that the Mute Swan was one of several species added, in 1992, to an official State of Washington “list of species that threaten native animals by invading habitat, spreading disease, or interbreeding.” Readers are then directed to the list of Deleterious Exotic Wildlife in Washington State.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/127717_baddeer21.html

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

New State Law Regulates Exotic Pets (Bozeman [Montana] Daily Chronicle - 06/14/03): As related in this article by Walt Williams, the event that sparked Montana Audubon to draft a bill--signed by Governor Judy Martz on April 29, 2003, and become effective next year--clamping down on the exotic pet trade originated in Livingston, "where a family brought in non-native Mute Swans in the 1970s." According to Audubon members Janet Ellis, "It was feared the aggressive Mute Swans would outcompete Trumpeter Swans in Yellowstone National Park."
http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/06/15/news/exoticanimalsbzbigs.txt

Saturday, June 14, 2003

This Week in Review (June 8-14, 2003):

Current News Items: Additions this week: 4. Cumulative to date: 159. Another slow week, with obituaries for two Canadian birds, plus news that the Mute Swan has been designated "Invader of the Month" in Maryland. Other Online Documents: Additions this week: 0. Cumulative to date: 47 items from 26 sources.

Thursday, June 12, 2003

Current News Articles (2):

Mute Swans Designated "Invader of the Month" for June (Maryland Invasive Species Council - 06/12/03): Although dated 06/06/03, today was the frst time that I noted this arcticle on the Maryland Invasive Species Council's web site.
http://www.mdinvasivesp.org/invader_of_the_month.html

Same-Sex Mate Mourns Last Royal Swan (Ottawa [Ontario] Citizen - 06/12/03): The article mourns the death of "the last living royal swan of the dozen donated by the Queen in 1967," which was found dead yesterday near the prime ministers residence.
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id=3FD391DC-B7FC-43F5-BF0C-48349B38ABC3

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

Much-Loved Swan Dies (Halifax [Nova Scotia] Daily News - 06/11/03): Paul Fraser writes thia obituary for Snowball, the 11-year-old Mute Swan known as "Bedford's most famous feathered fowl," who was found dead yesterday in the Bedford Basin.
http://www.canada.com/halifax/dailynews/story.asp?id=9421285F-4103-4A10-9955-0D079A770DB1

Sunday, June 08, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

Mute Swans Designated June's 'Invader of the Month' (Easton [Maryland] Star-Democrat - 06/08/03): This 9-paragraph article notes that the Mute Swan has been designated "Invader of the Month" by the Maryland Invasive Species Council, but that information has not yet been posted on that organization's web site.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8255611&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=392208&rfi=6

Saturday, June 07, 2003

This Week in Review (June 1-7, 2003):

Current News Items: Additions this week: 4. Cumulative to date: 155. This was the slowest news week for Mute Swans since this project was started on 04/20/03. The best of the news items was a well-researched article published by National Geographic News. Other Online Documents: Additions this week: 0. Cumulative to date: 47 items from 26 sources.

Friday, June 06, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

'A Little Sewage Can Be Good For Everyone' (Easton [Maryland] Star-Democrat - 06/06/03): In the third paragraph of his Up the Creek column, Keith Walters offers some wildly improbable figures on the reproductive potential of Mute Swans.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8237186&BRD=2101&PAG=461&dept_id=392208&rfi=6

Thursday, June 05, 2003

Current News Articles (1):

Mute Swans Spark Loud Debate in Chesapeake Bay (National Geographic News - 06/05/03): This article by Kim O'Connell focuses on the Mute Swan Management Plan of the Maryland DNR and the lawsuit filed by the Fund for Animals that has halted plans to shoot up to 1,500 birds this summer. Includes brief quote from Fund president Michael Markarian and extensive quotes from Maryland DNR associate director Jonathan McKnight. Also provides good background information on the impacts of Mute Swans on the environment and the need for population control.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0605_030605_muteswan.html