By Pepper Parr
January 8th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Getting caught up on some of the smaller decisions made by Council.
A number of years ago, before Covid, the Gazette sponsored a photo competition on Trumpeter Swans – we asked the Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program to do the judging. We provided the prize money and a framed copy of the winning entry was presented to the City.
Winning entry: Amada Kerr
The city was presented with a framed copy of the photograph. No idea where the picture is displayed.
City Council caught up with us when they unanimously agreed to the selection of the trumpeter swan as the city’s official bird
The “Official Bird” selection process was conducted by Bird Friendly Hamilton Burlington, through a public poll in early 2022 with the trumpeter swan, northern cardinal and black-capped chickadee coming in first, second and third place, respectively.
Burlington was certified by Nature Canada as a Bird Friendly City in April 2022, and part of its requirement includes the selection of an official city bird. Through public engagement and a unanimous Council decision the trumpeter swan is the city’s bird.
There was a time in the 1930s in Canada when the number of known trumpeter swans dwindled to 70. They swans had disappeared from Burlington and the rest of the province – shocking to think, since it is indigenous to North America. Hunting for swan meat, skins and feathers came close to eliminating the birds.
The trumpeter swan is the largest swan species in the world.
The Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program, which was established in the early 1980s, led to Pig Pen, the first trumpeter swan to nest in Ontario in 200 years, re-establishing the migration route of them in Burlington in 1993.
LaSalle Park is now home to more than 100 trumpeter swans from December to March and has a dedicated group of volunteers from Trumpeter Swan Conservation Ontario that work tirelessly toward the continued conservation and restoration of the species.
Link to winner:
The Trumpeter Swan coalition was opposed to Meed Ward’s total 180 degree turn when as the newly elected Mayor, she endorsed spending $4 Million (!) for a wave break at Lasalle to benefit a small number of private boat owners. Those of us who canvassed with her before that election and promised she wouldn’t spend that money were rather floored to see the u-turn.
So it’s rather ironic that they now choose the Trumpeter Swam as their city bird, as if all that never happened. It’s also ironic that we are considered a bird-friendly city. Presumably when birds start dying by the hundreds from flying into all the condos, this might need to be reconsidered.
I’ll also point out yet again that one of the very worst things for birds is fireworks. Yet despite frequent requests for the City to stop doing fireworks and instead choose environment-friendly and wildlife-friendly alternatives, like many other cities, Burlington refuses. They also continue to effectively allow people to set off fireworks whenever they want, despite bylaws which they don’t enforce which ban the practice. A week ago on New Year’s was the most recent huge display I heard. Bird friendly? No. Hypocritical? I’d say yes.