On Saving 2 Black Swans And Seeing Hometown Spirit, Love In Force

SOUTHOLD, NY — Two rare black swans rescued from a Southold creek are doing well Friday — and the memory of helping to save them is something that will stay with me forever.

Reporters are used to covering the news, rushing to the scene and taking notes and photos, attending meetings, and bearing witness. But sometimes, there are moments when we have the opportunity to actually become a part of something important, to lend a hand and help to make a difference — because we live and work in these communities, and we care. About the things— the people, children, wildlife — that matter. The things that make up a life.

The swans, now named Oliver and Olivia by Juliana Di Leonardo, wife of John Di Leonardo, the president of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, as well as LION volunteer Elliot Speiser, were first spotted in Corey Creek, abandoned. Domesticated, they could not forage for food on their own or protect themselves from predators.

They needed help.

On Wednesday, I got a message from Deb Stroup of Peconic, asking if Patch could somehow reach out to the proper channels; the swans were, according to neighbors Andrew Semon and Patricia Conklin, being attacked by wild white swans in Jockey Creek. Neighbors were trying to corral the swans away from the danger, but a rescue organization was needed, Stroup said.

"These poor things are tame and defenseless. They are not suited for the wild," she said.

I alerted Di Leonardo late on Wednesday night and he immediately sprang into action, assuring he'd come to rescue the pair Thursday, despite being busy with the bull on the loose in Mastic.

Di Leonardo asked Patch to please direct readers who spotted the swans to contact him so that he'd have an exact location to search. On Thursday, Glenna Ryan and her husband Don saw them on Goose Creek and notified Di Leonardo, who reached out to me, since I was just minutes away.

With John still more than two hours from Southold, I decided to head over to the creek, anyway, with my kayak, to see if I could help while waiting. Once there, I left the car and walked over to the bridge, where I saw Dana Kuhl and her children Sophia and Nick LaPorta, as well as her parents, William and Rena Kuhl, surveying the water.

I asked if they were looking for the black swans and yes, they were — and pointed them out. The feeling of seeing the elusive beauties that first time was better than almost anything. And from that moment began what became an experience we'd all remember forever.

Dana and her daughter suggested I use one of their kayaks, rather than drag mine from the car, and Sophia patiently helped this not-very-experienced kayaker into the vessel. Together, Dana, Sophia, and I paddled around the creek, heading over to the swans and following them for hours, setting up a perimeter. The goal was to keep them from slipping farther out under the creek and into the bay, where they might be lost forever.

(Lisa Finn / Patch )

Di Leonardo and I kept in touch by phone regarding his arrival time and Karen Testa of the Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons also said she was on the way. Soon, we were joined by Goose Creek neighbors Cathy Sleckman and Kathleen Foley, who came out on their kayaks to help.

For those next hours, everything slipped away. Worries and everyday concerns faded. Nothing mattered but saving those two graceful creatures, who glided across the creek exploring coves in the sunshine. Suddenly, keeping them safe became the glue that bonded a group of us who'd never met before — but who will likely meet again to share stories about a day that was magical in its mission.

The swans were quick; we had to kayak hard at times to keep the human chain around them so we could shepherd them to safety once the rescuers arrived. And, when Di Leonardo and Testa came with volunteers, we were able to guide the swans back to where Di Leonardo was waiting with a net to gently catch them and then, carry them over his shoulder to their new chapter. The swans almost seemed to embrace Di Leonardo, finally safe.

Working alongside those women, paddling, talking, sharing stories and a fierce desire to see this story have a happy ending was one of the most genuinely uplifting moments of my life. We reporters have to write about many, many painful things, stories that leave us in tears. We are, after all, human.

But then there are moments like yesterday, when everything turns out the way it should, the way it would — if life were perfect.

When Di Leonardo caught the second swan, we all cheered, and I have to admit, I cried. It was a beautiful thing, to see good triumph, to see helpless creatures cared for by so many.

And most of all, what shone through on the day we rescued those swans, we Southold neighbors who'd never met, was the sheer strength of hometown spirit that defines this community. The shared love for these two defenseless swans that brought us all together on a sunny Thursday morning in July to do something that ended up being incredibly wonderful in its outcome.

On Friday, Di Leonardo reported that the swans were healthy, but emaciated, and one has Bumblefoot, a bacterial infection, on one of its feet that may need treatment. However, the swans spent Friday splashing in a kiddie pool in the sunny garden of Di Leonardo's home and will soon be brought to a sanctuary.

It was a team effort, Glenna Ryan said.

Dana Kuhl dubbed our impromptu kayaking group the "Goose Creek Rescue Crew."

"When we all come together to help, anything is possible," she said.

I couldn't agree more.