Back from a fowl mood

Marisa O’Neil

The rains that drenched Newport-Mesa last week also made Rupert the

black swan, one of Newport Harbor’s most famous residents, a little

under the weather.

On Thursday, a Newport Beach animal control officer found Rupert

wandering, weak and disoriented, along Bayside Drive, said Debbie

McGuire, wildlife director for the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center

in Huntington Beach. After a brief stop for some blood work at the

All Creatures Care Cottage in Costa Mesa, Rupert is recovering at the

care center.

And, true to his personality, he’s a little cranky about it.

“Rupert’s used to having the whole bay to himself,” McGuire said.

“But, unfortunately, he got sick because of the pollution in the

bay.”

Medical tests showed that he likely has a bacterial infection, she

said. That would make sense, since rainstorms like the one last week

wash pollution downstream into Rupert’s home, she said.

Rupert has seen his fair share of pollution and has found himself

at the center numerous times, wildlife technician Susanna Kraig said.

His mate, Pearl, died in 2002, following a diesel fuel spill that

prevented her from fighting an infection.

The famous swan is thought to be at least 16 years old, said

Balboa resident and unofficial caretaker Gay Wassall-Kelly. In the

best conditions, in captivity, swans can live 25 to 30 years. But the

bay isn’t the healthiest body of water, Wassall-Kelly said.

“After the storm, the harbor was just so brown,” she said. “We

don’t let our kids swim in it and he’s like one of our kids. But we

can’t stop him.”

It may be time to find a more comfortable setting for him, she

said, one that’s cleaner and more controlled. But she knows everyone

would miss his presence in the bay.

For now, he’s getting some rest and relaxation, along with some

medication, to get him back into shape. He should be healthy again in

another week, Kraig said.

And that’ll be none too soon for Rupert, who doesn’t appreciate

sharing a pen with a gaggle of 10 geese, temporarily relocated from

TeWinkle Park.

“They have a truce,” Kraig said of the waterfowl. “He doesn’t mess

with the geese. They come up and nip him, then he turns around and

hisses. They back off.”