Photo Journals! Wintering Whoopers Ultralight-guided Migration   Whooper Happenings Mark Chenoweth's latest audio podcast all about Whooping Cranes! Operation Migration is pleased to provide this link to Whooper Happenings to its website visitors.   Mark Chenoweth, an OM supporter with a long history in broadcast journalism,  developed Whooper Happenings. In addition to OM staffers and WCEP partners, Mark's podcasts include interviews with various experts and lay people on Whooping crane history, husbandry and reintroduction. The comments and opinions expressed on Whooper Happenings are not necessarily those of Operation Migration.

Date: May 13th, 2006 Links Reporter: Joe Duff Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom Orlando, Florida Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Happy International Migratory Bird Day!   Today marks one of our favorite celebrations. Every year on International Migratory Bird Day we hope that people around the world will take time to reflect on the precious gift these wonderful creatures are to our planet, and to think of ways that they can help to preserve and protect them for years to come. To make it easy for you to take action this International Migratory Bird Day, Operation Migration has come up with four suggestions of ways you can help make this a great day for all migratory species. 1. Seek out a way to help preserve or restore wildlife habitat in your locale or one nearby. 2. Write to building owners encouraging them to extinguish upper floor and rooftop lighting from dusk to dawn during migration seasons. 3. Encourage your local powers-that-be to require that new hydro and telephone wires be below ground installations. 4. And last but by no means least, support OM 's work with the endangered Whooping crane by becoming a MileMaker. Date: May 12th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom Orlando, Florida Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: 3 topics   ONE:  Dark, still more night than morning, I stood outside the patio door to my room listening to Animal Kingdom wake up. The sounds from a variety of wild creatures melding in to one exuberant, raucous medley. To identify one particular animal noise, I closed my eyes to concentrate, trying isolate it from the others. That's when I found myself in the way of a breakfast bound small furry something. It walked right over my feet! Not sure what he was or which of us was the most startled.  TWO: We've recently added new items to OM 's merchandise page. Sweats, Tee's, and more. Wait 'til you see our new 'Certified Craniac' T-shirts! Check the OM Gear page in the Spring issue of INformation magazine, (coming out soon) for reduced Member pricing on some items. THREE: Speaking of INformation, as we have been advising in our last two issues, starting with this, the Spring issue, Information magazine will be sent only to Members. Sorry folks, but due to mailing costs we have to hold the line at distributing only to those directly supporting this product. (The cost of receiving the magazine is included in the $50 annual Membership Fee.) INformation has received excellent reviews, but this hasn't translated into support for it. We still believe that the magazine is a terrific vehicle, and a great way to promote OM ’s work with Whooping cranes, and we want to keep it alive - so we’ve gone back to the drawing board. Several options are being looked at. One is converting INformation to an E-zine. While this is an efficient and cost effective delivery method, we are reluctant to switch for a couple of reasons; one important one being that it would cut out supporters without computers. Another option we are investigating is the potential for 'beefing it up' and transforming it to a semi-annual publication. Well, what do YOU think? If you have thoughts or suggestions, we'd be happy to hear them. Of course we'd be even happier (smile) to have you become a Member. Date: May 11th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom Orlando, Florida Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Off and running   Notes:  Everyone has arrived safely and we're surrounded by African music, artifacts, and of course that continent's amazing creatures. As I sit typing this with a backdrop of savanah and a view of jungle, it is easy to be convinced by the churps, trills, and screeches from an assortment of birds that one has been transported to another land. But before I get carried away - and it sure is easy to do in this environment, I'd better give you Mark's latest report. We have five little chicks now.  #4 hatched on May 8 and #5 hatched on May 9. So for everyone who is keeping track: #1 on 5/5 #2 on 5/6 #3 on 5/7 #4 on 5/8 #5 on 5/9 All the chicks are doing pretty well.  #1 and 2 are gaining weight nicely and are going for walks. #3 has been able to get outside briefly in the outside portion of the pen. #'s 4 and 5 are both drinking well so far, and we are just working on the eating part. Our two oldest chicks were able to get out of the pen yesterday and today for their first look at the big world, and they both met the trike for the first time today. Sorry no pictures; it is not the best of weather today. It is cool and misty here, which also makes it difficult for us to walk the chicks. When they are really young they get hot/cold very easily. Both #1 and 2 got cold and we had to bring them back inside. #2 was so cold that it was trying to brood with the costume. #1 was not afraid of the trike at all. #2 was a little scared, but overall it was a positive experience. #3 has been outside but did not get to meet the trike yet because of the rain/cold. Date: May 11th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: It's Endangered Species Day   Notes:  The Road to Recovery The U.S. Senate declared today, May 11, 2006, Endangered Species Day to "encourage the people of the United States to become educated about, and aware of, threats to species, success stories in species recovery, and the opportunity to promote species conservation worldwide." To help celebrate and educate, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has created a website (www.esasuccess.org) detailing the conservation efforts which caused the populations of 100 endangered species in every U.S. state and territory to soar. "The Endangered Species Act has not only saved hundreds of species from extinction," said Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity, "it has put them on the road to recovery. The Endangered Species Act is one of America ’s most successful conservation laws." The Endangered Species Day resolution passed the Senate with unanimous consent on April 6, 2006. It was introduced by Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) and was co-sponsored by Senators Biden (D-DE), Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA), Chafee (R-RI), Clinton (D-NY), Crapo (R-ID), Dodd (D-CT), Feingold (D-WI), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (D-CT), Reed (D-RI), Collins (R-ME) and Snowe (R-ME). Excerpts from a CBD news release. Date: May 10th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Big News!   Notes:  There is chick news - I just wish I had more of it. It is Mark's day off so we don't have a detailed report for you, but thought you would appreciate knowing that two more chicks had hatched. On an entirely different topic, we have other big news. Operation Migration will be featured at Disney's Animal Kingdom on International Migratory Bird Day, Saturday, May 13th. Imagine how thrilled we are at being invited! For the past few days we have been scrambling to get organized, and to ready our booth materials and display. One of our ultralights will be put on view, and if there is room, the trike destined for the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum will also be exhibited. Disney tells us that they expect a huge attendance at Animal Kingdom Park that day, and we are excited at the prospect of meeting as many of them as we possibly can. It is a marvellous opportunity to raise awareness for the plight of the Whooping crane, and for the reintroduction project, to a potentially new audience - and who knows - perhaps even convert a few into Craniacs. On hand at Disney to meet and greet visitors at Animal Kingdom will be Joe Duff, OM pilot Brooke Pennypacker, Florida Craniac and long-time OM supporter Wanda Easton, Linda Walker, Deputy Field Supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jacksonville office, and myself. Also dropping by to lend support are OM 's good friends Mark and Peggy Chenoweth (of Whooper Happenings podcast fame). Yes, we'll take pictures to post to the photo journal, and if we can manage it, perhaps even some video. And speaking of posting - my little old laptop isn't wireless, so it means tracking down and borrowing internet connections while there and along the way. But I'll do my best to keep the Field Journal up to date despite like Willie Nelson, being "...on the road again." Joe and I will break the long drive home with a stop in Washington to deliver the aircraft that is to go on permanent exhibit in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum later this year. We will be going to Patuxent in Laurel, MD too. We will have trike parts on board that are needed for repairs to the training vehicles there, and we have also arranged to meet and interview two candidates for Mark Nipper's position while we are on site. We are so very grateful to Disney for this terrific opportunity to showcase Operation Migration and the work we do on behalf of the magnificent Whooping crane. Undoubtedly by the time we reach home we will have an accumulation of people to acknowledge, but for now, we want to say a huge thank you to two Disney cast members for all the time, effort, and advance work they have done to make our appearance at Animal Kingdom possible. They are first and foremost, Disney's Zoological Manager Scott Tidmus, and Grants Administrator Kim Sams. OM couldn't ask for two better friends. Date: May 9th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Tracking Team's Update   Distribution at the end of the week was: 55 - Wisconsin   5 -  Iowa , 502, 503, 505, 506, 507   2 - Indiana , 516, 522 (Due to injury, 516 missed a significant portion of the northern part of the ultralight-led migration in 2005.)   2 - Michigan , DAR533, 318 There was no nesting or re-nesting activity during the past week. As in previous years, while adults remained within the core reintroduction, most sub-adults engaged in long periods of undirected flight and/or extensive spring wandering on sunny or partly sunny days. 216's injured leg has not improved, and may have grown worse. The past week he foraged less, and preened and rested more than other cranes. He did continue to futilely pre-copulatory display to 303, his mate. Date: May 8th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Update from Florida   Notes:  When we asked Marty Folk for an update on spring hatches in the Florida non-migratory population, (FNMP) he quickly responded. "What a surprising breeding season it has been," Marty said. "Just this past weekend a pair of first-time nesters successfully hatched a chick." Here is Marty's summary of the 2006 season so far for the FNMP. -  12 pairs built 12 nests, tying the previous record (2004) of number of pairs nesting, and the number of chicks hatched (2003). -   5 nests failed -   1 nest is still active -   6 eggs were collected from 3 failed nests; 2 were fertile; 2 may have been fertile; 2 probably were not fertile. -   8 chicks from 6 nests hatched, which is more than the total of hatches in 2004 and 2005 combined. (5) -   5 chicks currently survive; the eldest is 58 days old. With just 3.87 inches of rainfall recorded, January-April was the driest on record in the Orlando area. Normal rainfall would be 10.74 inches. Date: May 7th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Wanderers returned to Necedah   Notes:  This report just in from Richard Urbanek. Whooping cranes 309 and 520 were retrieved from Lewis County, NY on Friday, May 5th. The two females were transported to Necedah NWR, where they were released on West Rynearson Pool. They remained there to roost. 309 has a history of migration problems and this is her first return to central Wisconsin . The capture site in New York was her summering area in 2005, and she led juvenile 520 there this spring. Many thanks to Terry Kohler, Mike Mauer, Stu Walker, Mike Frakes, and Charles Koehler (Windway Capital Corporation) for providing air transport to capture team members: Sara Zimorski (ICF), Richard Vanheuvelen (OM), Tim Sullivan (USFWS, Region 5), Dave Adams (New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation), and Chris Dobony (Fort Drum, Natural Resources Branch). Thanks also to landowner Brian Reape for access, and to Nancy Businga (Wisconsin DNR) for medical examination of the transferred birds.   Date: May 7th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: We're 'GRANDPARENTS' !   Notes:  In addition to sending the report below, Mark said he would be sending chick pictures for posting to the photo journal soon. Anxious to see the 2006 chicks? Me too! Here's Mark's report - We have three little chicks now. These eggs all came via ICF's Nat Warning. One is from ICF and the other two are from our previously released pair in Necedah. Little 218 now has two chicks out there in the world!! 601 (from an ICF captive pair) hatched on Friday around 3pm and is looking good. It was moved into the aviary yesterday and so far is maintaining weight. 602 is the first of the chicks from the eggs removed from the nest of 218 and 213 at Necedah. It was just moved out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and into the aviary pen and is doing well so far with eating and drinking. 603 is the second 'Necedah egg' and just hatched this morning. This little guy is barely old enough to try eating and drinking. Two of last year's chicks, 508 and 517, have been moved into the aviary to be adult imprint models for the 2006 chicks and are getting reacquainted with the building. 517, a male, is already checking out his little neighbor, chick 601. This is also an important learning time for our new staff as well. Today Laurie has been feeding her first crane chicks. Date: May 6th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Correction   Notes:  I goofed. In the April 25 Field Journal entry I correctly reported that the eggs of 213 and 218 were taken to ICF after the pair wandered off and left the nest for a prolonged period. I was still on track in April 30's update, advising that 302 and 209's clutch was lost. My goof came May 2nd when I remarked that ICF was incubating 209 and 302's eggs when I should have said 213 and 218. Thanks to Barbara for bring this error to my attention, and my apologies for the confusion. Date: May 5th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Handing out Cigars!   Notes:  Mark Nipper called moments ago (shortly after 3:00pm EST) to let us know the first chick of the season had hatched! When we spoke with Mark the chick was just seconds old, so there is not much to convey to you at this point. We can tell you though, that the chick was hatched from one of the eggs that came from ICF. I guess that means we are officially off and running! Is this a good time to remind everyone about MileMaker? Have you chosen your mile to sponsor yet? Date: May 5th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: 'Prodigal' Bird Found   Notes:  Yesterday, in the early afternoon while checking on spring wandering 2005 Whooping cranes, intern Chris Malachowski detected DAR532 in flight over Jackson County, WI. After a period of undirected flight, 532 landed in Wilson Marsh Flowage and settled to roost. DAR532's last know location (March 8th) was Osceola County , Florida . Three of the four DAR birds are now in Wisconsin . The fourth, 533, is in Barry County, Michigan. Date: May 4th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Two Updates   Tracking Team Report as of April 29. Distribution at the end of the week (29 April) or as of recent record: 55 in Wisconsin 1 in Minnesota : 420 1 in Iowa : DAR 528  2 in Indiana : 516 and 522 2 in Michigan : 318, DAR533 2 in New York : 309 and 520  1 undetermined: DAR532 Richard U. reported that 216's injured left leg appeared somewhat improved this week. He said, "Although 216 continued to limp badly and used his wings for balance when walking, his leg was capable of bearing very limited weight." Aransas/Wood Buffalo Update Tom Stehn's May 3rd aerial census counted just 6 sub-adults; 5 on the Refuge and 1 other nearby. Tom said, "Despite favorable migration conditions, only one Whooping crane initiated migration during the past week." Tom noted that while it was not unusual for few Whooping cranes to still be at Aransas in early May, he said that he was really surprised that more hadn't departed in the last week. "I would expect all of the remaining cranes would initiate migration in the next week, although on occasion, one or two cranes do over-summer at Aransas." Multiple reports of Whooping cranes in Canada have come in. Some of the birds have presumably arrived on their Wood Buffalo nesting grounds. Date: May 3rd, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: How's a person to keep up?!?!   Notes:  Earlier today I posted the information on egg production at Patuxent and ICF. I thought my Field Journal entries were caught up, that I'd given you folks the very latest info, so I decided to treat myself to a rare dinner out. I'd forgotten what it was like to have meat, potatoes, and vegetables all on one plate at the same time - and to sit down to eat it. Oops. Arrived back home to another email from from Mark. Can you believe it? MORE eggs!  Here's his report. "There are just a few days until the first egg is due to hatch. We have 33 eggs at PWRC. ICF is sending us as many as seven, and the Calgary Zoo in Alberta , Canada is sending four. Some where between 16 and 20 eggs are due to hatch in the next two weeks. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that they will all hatch, or that they will all survive, but it is still a lot. We will have the building ready to go, but we are not sure if WE are ready. Whooping cranes build and tend the nest together, and both parents take turns sitting on the eggs. Similarly, both parents will feed and tend to the chicks once they hatch. The nests, generally located in a marshy area, are usually made out of nearby vegetation.  In the wild, Whooping cranes will lay one or two eggs, with only one usually surviving. In captivity, staff remove the eggs at just the right time to get the female to continue to lay eggs. The standard incubation time a Whooping cranes egg is about thirty days. The incubators here at PWRC are set at around 100-F and the humidity has to be closely controlled as well." Date: May 3rd, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Chances of re-nesting?   Notes:  ICF's Sara Zimorski, who, like Mark Nipper is 'well-connected' with the birds, passes this along in response to your questions about re-nesting. "It is of course possible for the birds to re-nest. There is still time. But so far apparently, none are showing any signs re-nesting. Last year, neither of the two pairs that lost their clutches re-nested. The bottom line? We'll just have to wait and see." Date: May 2nd, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs   Notes:  Today's news is all about eggs. Mark Nipper reports from Patuxent that the egg count there is now up to 31! The word from ICF is that they now have 23 eggs. Add to this the two eggs rescued from the nest of 302 and 209 that are being incubated at ICF, and the total comes to, if you will pardon the pun, a Whooping 54 eggs so far. Everyone was concerned about the effect of the disruption to the cranes as a result of the disastrous snowstorm at Patuxent in February. Normally the Whooping cranes there start laying eggs in March. With the first egg this year not appearing until April 10th, it appears that while breeding may have been delayed, it wasn't otherwise negatively affected. On their regular conference call today, the WCEP Bird Team decided that the two rescued eggs at ICF cannot be returned to the nest. These two eggs are destined for Patuxent. Date: April 30th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Empty Nest Found   Notes:  The empty nest of Whooping crane pair 302 and 209 was found Saturday on Monroe County Flowage. Previous observations indicate that the clutch was lost PM 26 April or AM 27 April. No egg remains were found in the nest or in the vicinity. The pair had been incubating since approximately 13 April. The photos below were sent to us by Richard Urbanek. This was the only remaining active nest of five initiated so far this spring. All four of the other nests were on Necedah NWR. The obvious question is, will any of the pairs try again this season? We'll ask our experts to speculate and post their answers in a future Field Journal entry. And in migration news... DAR527 completed her spring migration to Necedah on Friday the 27th. She spent much of the day in undirected flight over the Rynearson and Sprague Pool areas, eventually roosting with several other Whooping cranes southwest of the refuge, and remained to forage with them the following morning. Earlier, 527 had reached Green Lake County WI where she remained until making the flight to the Necedah Refuge. Two other 2005 DAR birds have not yet completed migration. 533 is in Michigan . The whereabouts of 532 has not been known since he was last observed March 8th in Florida . Date: April 29th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Put an 'X' on your calendars!   Operation Migration and Whooping Cranes to be featured May 17 on Discovery Channel's Animal Planet. The Discovery Channel's Animal Planet has advised us that the Whooping crane segment we arranged for Jeff Huxmann, our good friend and videographer to film for them last fall, will debut on May 17th on Animal Planet Report at 8pm and 11pm EST.  The segment's producer said, "It was ridiculously hard to whittle down a two month journey and complicated story into a four minute segment," but she said that she thinks, "The footage is amazing." We haven't seen the finished product ourselves, and we hope that like us, all Craniacs will be glued to the television on the evening of Wednesday the 17th. P.S. To see Jeff's 'other' work, visit Solterra Communications at www.solterra.us Date: April 28th, 2006 Links Reporter: Mark Nipper Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Spring 2006 Photo Journal. Activity: Preparing for hatching chicks.   Notes: One week and counting until all "you know what" breaks loose here at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Our first chick is due on May 7th, and we have eight other eggs that may potentially hatch that same week! The staff keep finding more eggs all the time. We are making good progress on our preparations for the new season. We have the aviary room all cleaned, and we are getting it put together. This morning, Marie and Laurie worked on the plexiglass walls that separate the chicks in their outside runs. Thought it would be a good time to show you a few of the things we use for the cranes when they are young. Check today's additions to our photo journal, and stay tuned as we get closer to the season being in full swing, for more descriptions and photos of the other rooms and equipment we use. Date: April 27th, 2006 Links Reporter: Joe Duff Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office 2005's Migration, Post Migration, and Winter Photo Journal. Activity: We get questions   Notes:  Thanks to Richard Urbanek, (USFWS) Sara Zimorski, (ICF) and our own Mark Nipper, we are kept in the loop about Whooping crane happenings despite being stuck here in the office spending most of our time in front of a computer. We get regular reports, emailed satellite locations, and updates over the phone. Then we try to post this information on our website in a timely and less statistical fashion. Sometime we don't explain things as clearly as we could, and occasionally a supporter will email us a question that brings that shortcoming to light. Recently we were asked if we anticipated the wide dispersal of the white birds through Ontario, New York, Indiana, Michigan, and Minnesota. When the states that they have wandered to are listed like this, it looks a bit more chaotic than it actually is. In fact, over 88% of our birds have returned to the core introduction area in and around Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Dr Urbanek has documented a behaviour he refers to as 'spring wandering,' which seems to take place shortly after they arrive at the northern terminus. It's like the instinct to migrate doesn't shut off the instant they get back, and a little more flying is the only way to scratch the itch. This may be the case with the birds that check in at the refuge and then continue on to Minnesota , which is only a hundred miles or so to the west; a short flight by Whooping crane standards. We don't know the motivators for migration, nor the mechanics of the cranes' navigation. We do know that they have, at times, been too far off course for landmarks to be a useful guide. They may be able to sense magnetic fields or interpret the declination of the sun. Considering their east-west movements, none have ventured much farther north. This is anecdotal evidence that they acquire a knowledge of their latitude during their first summer in Necedah, and migration could be a simple matter of heading back in the direction from which they arrive until they feel they have traveled far enough north, followed by some east-west wandering to bring them over familiar territory. Whatever the mechanism it is not infallible, and maybe the birds that short stop in Indiana have temporarily lost sight of whatever markers bring them home. Or maybe their urge to migrate dissipated early, unlike the birds that keep going after a stop at Necedah. After all, one warm place is as good as another to spend the summer if you are not old enough to be driven by the need to breed. The birds that went to Ontario and New York are of course a different story. They are part of the group an overzealous observer flushed into the night to be blown off course by strong west winds. In 2004 they spent their first summer of freedom on the east side of Lake Michigan . Despite our attempts to reorient them, for numbers 309 and 318 the dye may be set for them to return to Michigan every summer. That is why it is so important to retrieve 520, a hapless and inexperienced bird who just followed 309 to the wrong destination. In order to conduct a reintroduction of this magnitude we needed to circumvent some of the restrictions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that prohibited us from leading these federally listed birds across state lines. Recently retired Secretary of the Interior, Gail Norton, enacted a provision within the ESA called the "Experimental Non-Essential Designation," which reduces the status of our birds to 'threatened'. All of the seven direct line states we pass through on our way south, 13 neighboring others, along with the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba , agreed to this provision. So despite their peregrinations, our birds are still within appropriate territory and have the enthusiastic blessings of those jurisdictions. Another question posted on our website was. "Will Whooping cranes and Sandhills breed?" The answer is yes. It is not normal behavior, but it has happened, and the results are known as Whoophills. Like mules, Whoophills would in turn themselves not likely be able to breed. But it would mean that the offending Whooping crane male would be pair-bonded to a Sandhill and his genetic material would be lost to the population. Each of our birds is valuable in terms of their contribution to the sustainability of this flock in addition to the cost of teaching them to migrate and getting them into the wild. Losing any of them to any cause sets the project back. Sandhills and Whooping cranes will socialize if they are not defending a territory, and there are some things about wildness that our birds can learn, as long as they don’t get overly friendly. Man - - don't we sound like over protective parents! We have also been asked if the amount of predation on the nests in Necedah was expected. That answer is a little more difficult. The behaviour of all birds is based on instinct and experience. Instinct motivates them to migrate, and experience shows them the route. For them, pair bonding and breeding is a whole new adventure. Think of human adolescents entering puberty without the benefit of parental guidance, education, books, or even the ability to communicate with friends. In hindsight, maybe that is too shocking an analogy, but you can see where it leaves an inexperienced bird. Can you imagine what it is like for them the first time they lay an egg? Whooping cranes are formidable birds and I can't imagine they can be forced off a nest by a raccoon, or many other predators for that matter. More likely they wandered too far to forage and their eggs were snatched in their absence. Once this has happened a few times they will learn to be more attentive, and that is why most new parents are successful only on their second or third attempt. In the Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock, young birds usually fledge their first chick in their fifth or sixth year, generally bringing one offspring south with them only every other season. A website grows into a convoluted place, but somewhere on ours, most everything we know about Whooping cranes is posted. If we have confused you, or if there is a question you would like answered, drop us a line at info@operationmigration.org. If we can't answer it we'll find someone who can. Date: April 26th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office 2005's Migration, Post Migration, and Winter Photo Journal. Activity: Aransas/Wood Buffalo Update   Notes: After his aerial census at the Aransas Refuge today, Tom Stehn reported he found just 7 sub-adult cranes that had yet to migrate. This means that of 214 Whooping cranes, (96.7%) migrated right on schedule. "Multiple reports have now come in of Whooping cranes in Canada ," said Tom. "Except for today when we had north winds brought by a 'cool' front that reached the Texas coast the evening of April 25th, the weather has been favorable for migration on a daily basis since last week's census flight." Date: April 25th, 2006 Links Reporter: Liz Condie Position Opening!   Supervisor of Field Operations. Location: Main Office 2005's Migration, Post Migration, and Winter Photo Journal. Activity: Honors for George Archibald   On Earth Day, Saturday, April 20th, George Archibald, a preeminent pioneer of crane conservation, joined the ranks of such notables as John Muir and Aldo Leopold when he was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. Each year since 1985, this honor has been bestowed on a small group of individuals in recognition of their advancement of conservation within Wisconsin . George is a member of Operation Migration’s Board of Directors, and we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to honor him as well. George was born and grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, but his life of extraordinary conservation work was launched at Cornell University in Ithaca , New York . It is also where he met Baraboo Wisconsin native, Ron Sauey, who shared George's love of birds. To make a long story short, George and Ron started the International Crane Foundation 33 years ago on the farm of Ron's parents. The effort to conserve the world's cranes was at first low-key, but over the years the International Crane Foundation became a Wisconsin landmark. George was instrumental in convincing the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team that OM's Bill Lishman and Joe Duff should lead a flock of endangered Whooping Cranes with their ultralight aircrafts. George's endorsement and enthusiasm for Operation Migration's work helped to carry the day - and the rest, as they say, is history. George has been a great ally and supporter to OM , and we are proud that he is associated with us. Like the Whooping crane, many cranes species are either endangered or threatened, and George has spent much of his life traveling the world as an ambassador of conservation, sharing his knowledge and ideas with others across the globe. One of George's long-term goals is to have the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea become an International Biosphere Reserve, effectively preserving that vast stretch of undeveloped land as a vital habitat for Red-crowned and White-naped Cranes. From all of us at OM George, hearty congratulations on a hard-earned and well-deserved honor. To View Past Field Journals Please Visit our Site Map Home | Our Work | Get Involved | In the Field Merchandise | Links | Contact Us ©1994-2006 Operation Migration Inc.™ & Operation Migration - USA.™ Not to be reproduced for purposes, public or private without written consent. To obtain consent please visit the Contact Us page.

Click here to sign the guestbook Please help us get the 2006 generation of Whooping crane chicks to Florida. Click here to become a MileMaker sponsor!