These data are from counts of swans on the open parts of Lake Mattamuskeet (from the point north of headquarters or, in 2010, from the inlet of Lake Landing Canal).   All counts were obtained on calm days (years with missing data had no such opportunities for counts!).

In every year we have noticed that proportions of young are higher in sheltered areas (on Bodie Island Pond, on impoundments at Mattamuskeet NWR, and between the island and the observation platform on the causeway across Lake Mattamuskeet).   In 2010, for instance, we found 6.3% young on Bodie Island Pond and 5.9% young in front of the observation platform on the causeway across Lake Mattamuskeet.

The total numbers of swans in these sheltered areas is much lower than the total on Lake Mattamuskeet or the large impoundments at Pea Island.   So the higher proportion of young in sheltered areas probably does not change the overall proportion of young among the 20 thousand or so swans in northeastern NC (even if most of the young and their families are in sheltered areas).