From the Asbury Park Press

July 19, 2008

Broken Beak back with family

Cedar Creek neighbors cheer return of swan

By KIRK MOORE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

Broken Beak is back, to cheers from Cedar Creek neighbors who wanted the male swan returned by animal control workers — and to the apprehension of some boaters, who say the swan's antagonism toward personal watercraft poses a danger to people.

"I can't believe they're putting him back. It's wonderful," said Ruth Vieira as Berkeley animal control officer John Bober and Popcorn Park Zoo general manager John Bergmann surveyed the creekfront along Cedar Run Road, searching for the swan's female mate and two young cygnets.

But on nearby Dune Drive, one waterfront resident quietly warned Bober that new trouble with the swan could ensue. After being struck by a speeding personal watercraft three years ago, the swan has been aggressive toward the machines and their riders, dunking some and nipping at others. Swan supporters contend he's only defending his nest territory and say riders can go slow and avoid the birds.

"We'll have to manage the problem," said Bober, who plans to post warning signs along the creek and organize a community meeting on how boaters and swans can coexist. "We've got to get together with everyone and decide what we're going to do."

On July 8, Bober captured the swan after complaints that the bird was endangering young watercraft riders. The bird was relocated to an old cranberry reservoir near Chatsworth in Burlington County, but within days neighbors were demanding its return.

Workers with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which owns the 9,400-acre Franklin Park Preserve at Chatsworth, spotted the bird Monday and contacted John Bergmann, general manager at the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey, who told them the of the Cedar Creek situation. Late Friday morning, foundation land stewards Louis Cantafio and Ray Steingall found it again.

"I talked to this thing for about 15 minutes, like you would a dog," Steingall said. In his spare time Steingall fishes on Barnegat Bay, and he "realized I'd had a run-in with this animal at Cramer's Cove just down the creek, about two years ago. I was hanging off the transom of the boat, working on the engine, and he tried to steal my hat. It's a small world."

Sitting on a sandy bank alongside a pond, Steingall deftly captured the bird as Cantafio was driving to town in search of some bread to bait it. Holding onto the swan, he fumbled for his cell phone and recalled Cantafio, and they got the swan into the truck.

"We were driving through Chatsworth with this bird looking out the window. It was pretty comical," Steingall said. "I was stroking it to keep it calm, and it just fell asleep. I thought, this is the swan that's been terrorizing the personal watercraft people?"

They drove the swan to Popcorn Park, and around 4 p.m. Bober and Bergmann located the swan family near the south bank of the creek, where they released Broken Beak at the end of Dolan Street in Lacey. Bober said he did not know the swan had offspring when he captured the male July 8: "If I had been five minutes later that day, I would have seen the female and the babies. That would have changed the whole game plan."

Now the community needs to try managing the swan issue, Bober said. "I'm going to try and get more no-wake buoys and signs in here," he said. Residents on Cedar Run Road said they are printing leaflets to alert boaters about the swans, and have asked state and local police to patrol and enforce the no-wake zone this weekend.

Return to News Coverage