Photo Journals!
Wintering Whoopers |
Ultralight-guided
Migration |
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Whooper Happenings
Mark Chenoweth's latest audio podcast all about Whooping Cranes! |
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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. |
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| Date: |
June
1st 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Mark Nipper |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Patuxent |
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| Activity: |
Training
Update |
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Notes: Things are rolling right along at an almost, but not quite, out of
control pace. We are coming to the end of our eggs, and in
one way at least, I doubt anyone here at Patuxent is too
sorry about it. With so many chicks popping out almost all
at once, oh boy, do we have our hands full!
The weather has finally turned hot, making it very difficult to get what
needs to be done, done. We've now had to go to split shifts
so some staff can come in after 4:00pm when it begins to
cool down, and the shadows over the Farm Pond start growing.
It is the only way to get the birds the exercise they need
without causing them to heat stroke.
The chicks themselves are not helping our 'hands full'
situation either. #'s 2, 6, and 8 are all highly aggressive
and unable to be walked with anyone else, let alone trained.
604 has become increasingly aggressive to 605 so they can no
longer be trained together. 603 has also become more
aggressive to 601, making training them together very
difficult. We tried 605 with numbers 1 and 3 the other day
and things went really well. We were encouraged, thinking
that we might have a group of three finally, but the next
day during training 603 was enraged and lusting for
blood.
607 is doing just fine with the trike and on walks to the
pond. Numbers 10, 11, 12, and 13 are all doing pretty well
following to the pond and at the circle. This bunch are all
a bit of trouble though, because they are all scaredy-cats.
They follow either very close or very tentatively.
(Note: Apologies to our readers on dial-up connections
for all the pics that I've been dropping directly into the
Field Journal. I know this drastically slows down loading
for you and gives you problems. I've only been using this
shortcut in the interest of getting photos to you quickly;
it takes less of my time too. Today however, Mark sent quite
a few photos along with his update, so I will process and
post them to the Photo Journal. Bear with me folks, and I
will do my best to get them up there before the day is out. Liz)
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| Date: |
May
31st 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
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| Activity: |
Egg/Chick
Allocation |
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Notes: Tom
Stehn, (Co-chair of the Whooping Crane Recovery Team, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Whooping Crane Coordinator,
Aransas NWR) leads a weekly conference call of the flock
managers of all six of the Whooping crane breeding centers
around
North America
. These calls take place during the breeding season so the
centers can share information, discuss potential pairings,
and allocate eggs for the various reintroduction programs.
With the breeding season drawing to a close, the final call
was held yesterday. The report below is a synopsis of the
telephone meeting. As egg production is essentially finished
for the season, the totals below should be close to final
numbers.
This year's eggs have come from The Audubon Species Survival
Center in Louisiana (SSC), the Calgary Zoo in
Canada
, USGS Patuxent WRC in
Maryland, and ICF in
Wisconsin, all of which had good production seasons.
Calgary
literally shot above what their flock had ever produced
before. Given that Patuxent could have faced a disastrous
season with the February snow storm that damaged nearly all
pens, its results are so much better than expected.
Tom Stehn commented, "There are some very talented and
dedicated people at all the captive facilities that make
this happen, for which we should all be grateful."
To date, 19 chicks have been hatched for the WCEP project
and are destined for ultralight training. One chick (616)
has some health problems. Three more eggs are still
incubating. In addition, there is one chick, (609) and one
egg, that will be genetic holdbacks.
At ICF there are 4 chicks hatched for the DAR program. ICF
also has 3 fertile eggs, and 4 unknown eggs (3 of which are
likely to be fertile). 1 chick, 7 fertile eggs and 1 unknown
egg will either be assigned to DAR or held back for genetic
purposes. 1 chick and 1 fertile egg are definite genetic
holdbacks.
The numbers above include 2 eggs that are scheduled to be
shipped June 6th from
Calgary
to ICF, and 3 eggs that were shipped from Patuxent to ICF on
May 29th.
"It looks like production will fully meet and/or exceed the
WCEP egg quotas requested back in February at the Whooping
Crane Recovery Meetings," said Tom.
"It is inevitable," he added, "that a few
chicks will develop health problems, but I think the numbers
[given above] anticipate some of those situations." |
| Date: |
May
31st 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
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| Activity: |
Tracking
Team Report |
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Tracking Team
Update for May 21-26
Distribution at the end of the week: [* = female]
55 - Wisconsin
6 - Iowa (*501, *508, *509, 512, 514, *519)
3 - Michigan (318, 522, DAR533)
Nesting News: 211 and 217 re-nested at their 2005
nest site near the East Rynearson Pool dike and began
incubating on May 23rd.
Health Concerns: 216’s leg injury appeared
significantly improved and his limp was much reduced.
As always, thanks to the Tracking Team, and to Kelly Maguire
and Sara Zimorski for additional assistance. Thanks to Terry
Kohler, Mike Mauer, and Tom Trester (Windway Capital
Corporation) for aircraft support.
Special thanks and goodbye…..
Lara Fondow, former intern and research associate at
ICF, leaves this week to pursue a Master’s degree at the
University of Wisconsin. For the past four years, Lara has
served as Monitoring Crew Chief and primary tracker of the
reintroduced eastern migratory whooping crane population.
She performed the duties of her demanding position
skillfully and professionally. Her dedication and 24/7
commitment to the project’s success cannot be
overemphasized.
Lara's affiliation with the WCEP project will continue
however, through an appointment by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. We wish Lara all the very best. She will
be missed! |
| Date: |
May
30th, 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
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| Activity: |
Two
more chicks! |
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Notes:
We expect a 'real' report from Mark soon, but in the
meantime we are tickled to be able to tell you that 19 and
20 have hatched! Below is an updated 'Chick Chart'. (* is
genetic holdback.)
WCEP Bird #
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Hatch Date
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Sex
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Egg Source
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601
|
5-May
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M
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ICF
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602
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6-May
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F
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Necedah
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603
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7-May
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F
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Necedah
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604
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8-May
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F
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Calgary
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605
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9-May
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F
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PWRC
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606
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11-May
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M
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PWRC
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607
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13-May
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M
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ICF
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608
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13-May
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F
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PWRC
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*NA
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14-May
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UK
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PWRC
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610
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14-May
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M
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PWRC
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611
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18-May
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F
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Audubon
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612
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18-May
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M
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ICF
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613
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19-May
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UK
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ICF
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614
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20-May
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UK
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Calgary
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615
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21-May
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UK
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PWRC
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616
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23-May
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UK
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PWRC
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617
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25-May
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UK
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PWRC
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618
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27-May
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UK
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Calgary
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619
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28-May
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UK
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Calgary
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620
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28-May
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UK
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Calgary
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| Date: |
May
27th, 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Mark Nipper |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Patuxent |
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| Activity: |
More
hatches |
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Notes: As of today there are 18 chicks hatched; #17 from a PWRC egg and #18 from
an egg received from Canada's Calgary Zoo.
#16 is still of special concern with some serious health
problems. The rest are healthy and doing well. Training and
socialization are progressing. We have begun taking chicks
out to the White Series pens (see explanation below). We
recently received the sexes for numbers 1 through 12, except
for #9 whose results were incomplete (see chick list in
previous journal entry). So far we have a good balance of
females.
#1 and 3 are getting along well together. They are training
for 15 to 20 minutes and doing fairly well with the trike.
#3 is still rather distracted, but so far it is not
hindering #1. #4 and 5 were a good group, but #4 is becoming
more aggressive. So long as they both keep moving, they are
alright. Hopefully it will stay that way if not get better.
The rest of the chicks are still training and walking
separately. #2 is remains highly aggressive and is a pain in
the butt to train (see photo in tub). She follows for a
couple minutes then turns crazy. She will see something that
scares her to death and start running and screaming, then
she suddenly spots something that looks interesting and just
wanders off like nothing ever happened.
#8 is turning out to be very similar (see pics). She too is
highly aggressive; tries to kill #7 through the fence all
day long. This bird is usually distracted and hard to train
or walk. Thankfully, the rest of the little guys are all
walking and training pretty well.
The big breakthrough yesterday was getting birds out to the
White Series pens for the first time. There are multiple
sets of pens at PWRC, most named after colors. The White
Series (WS) is where the WCEP chicks go live when they get
older. Yesterday we walked three birds out there and let
them hang out next to each other. #1 and 3 went to one pen,
while #2 came out and hung out next door. Then #4 and 5 went
out with #6 next door. We take them out to the pens at the
same time so they can get used to seeing each other through
the fence as well as all the commotion that will be
involved. All it all it went very well. We will continue to
walk them out there briefly until they have acclimated
enough for us to try leaving them out over night.
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| Date: |
May
26th, 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
|
| Activity: |
Chick
Chart |
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We have a total of
16 chicks now. Mark advises that the most recently hatched
chick, 616, is small and underweight, and that the crew is
concerned.
For those of you
keeping track, here is Mark's updated chart.
WCEP
Bird #
|
Hatch
Date
|
Sex
|
Egg
Source
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601 |
5-May
|
M
|
ICF
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602
|
6-May
|
F
|
Necedah
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603
|
7-May
|
F
|
Necedah
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604
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8-May
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F
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Calgary
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605
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9-May
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F
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PWRC
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606
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11-May
|
M
|
PWRC
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607
|
13-May
|
M
|
ICF
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608
|
13-May
|
F
|
PWRC
|
*NA
|
14-May
|
UK
|
PWRC
|
610
|
14-May
|
M
|
PWRC
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611
|
18-May
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F
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Audubon
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612
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18-May
|
M
|
ICF
|
613
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19-May
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UK
|
ICF
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614
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20-May
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UK
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Calgary
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615
|
21-May
|
UK
|
PWRC
|
616
|
23-May
|
UK
|
PWRC
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| Date: |
May
25th, 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
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| Activity: |
Crossing
the species line |
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At the end of his
update yesterday, (see below) Joe talked about cross-species synergy.
Hmmm, I wonder what one would call this species?
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Mickey McCrane? |
Think the job must be getting to this
poor soul? She's seems to be engaged in a serious
conversation with a recycle bin and a duck. |
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| Date: |
May
24th, 2006 |
Links |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
Spring 2006 Photo Journal. |
| Location: |
Main
Office |
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| Activity: |
Disney
and IMBD |
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Notes:
Apart from the founding organizations of the Whooping Crane
Eastern Partnership there are several agencies and people
who have been involved with this project from the beginning.
Time flies when you are having fun, or too busy to notice,
but it's hard to believe that we have known the people at
The Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund for over 5 years. In
that time they have donated over $100,000 to
OM
, and become one of our biggest single contributors. In
addition to financial support, they have offered advice and
guided us over a steep fundraising learning curve.
When the Project Direction Team decided we needed to
short-stop birds at the Halpata Tastanaki site near Dunellen
Florida
, a new pen was needed. Many of the Disney staff volunteered
their time to wade knee deep in oozing mud to help with its
construction. Now we have a place to hold the birds
temporarily, or, a new winter home depending on the needs of
the Monitoring Team.
With 64 birds migrating to
Florida
and more being added every season, the responsibility for
their health care has become a substantial commitment.
Marilyn Spalding, DVM of the
University
of
Florida
, has been providing this service on a volunteer basis since
the beginning. She also provides health care for the
non-migratory flock. With the odd injury or infection, this
job has been manageable, but as the numbers grow, so do the
cases that need veterinary attention. Like any responsible
scientist, Marilyn was concerned that a time would come when
she couldn't provide adequate care. The dedicated staff at
Disney again stepped forward and offered veterinary services
for any of our injured or sick birds in the
Florida
area.
This past Saturday (May 13th) was International Migratory
Bird Day and our friends at Disney asked us to display our
aircraft at Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom Park. It
meant a 27 hour drive pulling the long aircraft trailer, but
the chance to visit with our friends and gain invaluable
exposure was too good to resist. We needed to deliver a
spare training aircraft to Patuxent in
Maryland
and another one to the Smithsonian National Air and
Space
Museum
in
Washington
, so we made the trip a multi-purpose one.
Disney's Zoological Manager, Scott Tidmus, was very
obliging. Besides assisting with setting up our display -
including our two aircraft, he also arranged accommodation
for Liz, Brooke, and I at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Animal
Kingdom has a lot to offer, and visitors to the park
wouldn't normally see the Lodge unless they are a guest
there. But it is so amazing it really should be part of the
tour. The building itself is spectacular, with authentic
African design and artefacts. From its real thatched roof to
the genuine museum quality pieces on display, the entire
place is an incredible work of art. The Lodge itself backs
on to the savannah, and from your room you can watch
giraffes and zebras feeding or strolling by.
On Friday we had a chance to present our project to
interested Disney cast members at a 'Brown Bag lunch'. We
also had an opportunity to visit with ex-OM'er John Thomton.
John worked with us last year at Patuxent and Necedah and
then accepted a job with Disney before we left on the
migration - a point we often mention with tongue in
cheek.
Linda Walker (representing Florida US Fish and
Wildlife Service) and her husband Hal joined Liz, Brook and
I, and everyone spent a beautiful, sunny, 91 degree Saturday
answering questions, promoting the project, and meeting
conservation minded people. Our display and aircraft were
framed by blooming hibiscus, palm trees and the gigantic
animal motif floating over the entrance to Conservation
Station.
The support and encouragement we have received from Disney
on so many levels has helped make this project the success
it is. It's a classic example of cross-species synergy; a
little mouse helping out an endangered bird.
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CLICK HERE to view the Spring 2006 #4 Field Journal
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