Trumpeter swans are newcomers to the nesting scene in Potter Marsh

The crown jewel of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, Potter Marsh, has new summer residents. A pair of trumpeter swans are calling the marsh home this summer.

For years, trumpeter and tundra swans have stopped at the South Anchorage marsh in the spring to refuel on their way to other nesting sites. The swans would stop again in the fall on their way south for the winter, with cygnets that matched the adults for size.

That changed In 2019 when a pair of trumpeters spent the summer at the marsh. This year probably the same pair is back. They built a nest mound and hatched five cygnets.

“I’ve been managing for twenty years now and haven’t seen swans nest at the marsh,” said Joe Meehan, special areas program coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Meehan thinks they are probably young swans finding their first nesting area. W. Keys, president of the local chapter of the Audubon Society, said in a text message, “I checked with a couple of the big guys, and no one remembers swans nesting at Potter Marsh before.”

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