For several weeks, staffers at the Sunriver Nature Center eagerly waited for two trumpeter swans to hatch. By the Fourth of July, one had hatched and they expected to come to work the next day to see the other.

But Wednesday morning brought the shock of the summer: Four white, fuzzy heads peaking out from their mother’s nest.

Staffers believe the first baby swan started hatching late Monday night, and the others hatched throughout the day Tuesday — the Fourth of July. A fifth egg was spotted in the nest Wednesday, but is likely infertile, according to the staff.

Having four baby swans, called cygnets, is unexpected after a difficult breeding season for the resident swan couple, Chuck and Gracie.

Last year, the beloved swan pair welcomed two babies, Fiona and Finley. This spring, raccoons stole five eggs from Gracie’s nest, ending any hope of new offspring, because swans typically breed only once a year.

But Gracie surprised everyone in late May by laying more eggs. Staff only spotted two eggs at the time, and now realize three other eggs were buried deep in the nest, which is on an island in the nature center.

“We walked up the shore line, and we saw two eggs,” Kody Osborne, lead naturalist at the nature center, said. “I suspected personally there were more. Unfortunately for us, they bury them.”

Any baby swans are seen as a boost to repopulation efforts for the species that nearly went extinct from hunting in the early 1990s. The population has been slowly recovering, with about 700 recently counted in the Western United States.

The four baby swans at Sunriver spent Wednesday exploring life outside of the nest with Chuck and Gracie. They followed their parents down to the shore, and even spent some time in the water.

“They already took a little bit of a dip,” Osborne said. “They will be going back up into the nest for safety sake for the first couple weeks.”

The babies will stay at the nature center for about three months.

Before learning to fly, they will be sent to the Summer Lake Wildlife Area, a nearly 19,000-acre site in Lake County that acts as a refuge for trumpeter swans. The Trumpeter Swan Society, a nonprofit group working with state and federal wildlife managers, has released about 90 swans at Summer Lake since 2009.

Bend resident Gary Ivey — a board member of the Trumpeter Swan Society and former biologist at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge — helps coordinate the trumpeter swan restoration program at Summer Lake.

Ivey describes the effort at Summer Lake as two steps forward and one step back.

Last year, Chuck and Gracie’s two babies, Fiona and Finley, were taken to Summer Lake. Finley is still at the lake, but Fiona was illegally shot and killed by a hunter in October. The hunter, Michael J. Abbott, 34, of Cottage Grove, also shot another swan, Hope, the same day. Hope, who was injured and later died, was the first swan to hatch in the wild at Summer Lake and reach adulthood. Abbott has been charged with attempted unlawful taking of a game bird.

Despite that, Ivey said two nests in the Summer Lake area successfully produced eight hatchlings in 2016. That paired with the four from the Sunriver Nature Center is cause for celebration, Ivey said.

As the trumpeter swan population grows and the birds migrate across the state, Ivey expects to see more nests in suitable areas including the Klamath Basin and throughout Harney, Crook and Lake counties.

“We are optimistic that in the next five to 10 years we will have a stable and growing flock of trumpeter swans for everyone to enjoy in Oregon,” Ivey said.

At the Sunriver Nature Center, staff is encouraging the public to come see the baby swans. The nature center will soon ask the public for input on what to name the four swans. Because the swans hatched around the Fourth of July, Osborne joked, many of the suggested names will probably be patriotic.

The swans’ sex will not be known for a few weeks until staff is able to catch the birds and test their blood, Osborne said.

For those who want to keep tabs on the young birds, a wildlife camera will continue to stream activity near the nest. People can view the livestream on the Sunriver Nature Center’s Facebook page or on its website, www.sunrivernaturecenter.org.

Jennifer Curtis, the former Sunriver Nature Center manager who recently left the center after six years to work as an environmental consultant, said she was amazed Wednesday to hear about the four baby swans. If the raccoons — a popular nuisance in Sunriver — did not get to the first eggs, Curtis said, Chuck and Gracie could have produced nine babies, a staggering number.

Even four babies will keep the swan pair quite busy, Curtis said.

“I just wish them the best of luck,” Curtis said. “They have already beaten the odds, and they are such great parents. I’m sure they will be able to keep them safe from here on out.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7820,

kspurr@bendbulletin.com

“We are optimistic that in the next five to 10 years we will have a stable and growing flock of trumpeter swans for everyone to enjoy in Oregon.”— Gary Ivey, Summer Lake swan restoration coordinator