Joyous swan song

For several years Michael Bean has been trumpeting a cause close to his heart. Now he stands on the brink of its most significant breakthrough since his efforts began.

Bean resides in Sennett with two guests in his backyard: trumpeter swans, an endangered waterfowl whose presence in the Finger Lakes and all of the East Coast was once plentiful.

After Christopher Columbus landed in America more than 500 years ago, the trumpeters were shot almost out of existence. The hearty vocalizations for which they were named made them an easy target for hunters. Their uniquely curved wing feathers could also be used as quill pens that people of the time highly coveted.