Notes: Deke came through Friday's surgery just fine - thanks to all the people he has in his corner supporting him and cheering him on and of course to the fine team of doctor's and support staff treating him. Recovery over the next couple of days may be slow but now that appropriate blood flow to his brain has been restored we are hopeful that his rehabilitation process will speed up and he will soon be on the fast track to recovery. Many thanks to all for your very kind messages in the guestbook, which Rebecca prints out and reads to Deke.

Dan Sprague of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland reported on Friday that we have our first WCEP egg of the season! The egg was laid sometime during the evening on Thursday and has been pulled and placed in a Sandhill crane nest for early incubation. It's still a bit early to determine if the egg is fertile but it is from a very productive pair so there is little reason to believe it isn't. Click here to find out just what the eggs go through once they are produced at the captive breeding center.

OM donors and supporters should have received the Spring '02 issue of our newsletter IN...Formation by now but, if you were a donor or member last year and have not received your copy please give us a call at 800-675-2618 or drop us an email with your mailing address and we'll get one out to you right away. Operation Migration is a non-profit organization in both the United States and Canada and we rely on donations from private individuals and foundations to continue our work. If you'd like to become a supporter and begin receiving the newsletter, please call our toll free line above. Thank you!

Be sure to check out the new Bird's Eye View video clips, as well as more of Jessie Jacobs cartoons in the Lighter Side of Migration.

Notes: The five ultralight Whoopers are still on the remote island on the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and are continuing with their established pattern of activity. They are roosting in the water inside their release pen whenever water levels allow and it seems they have learned the proper way to eat the Blue crabs. While they are enjoying the warm Florida sunshine there are many, many people (ourselves included) that are wondering when they will decide it is time to begin the return flight north. We have received numerous emails all asking basically the same question: "When do you expect the birds to start migrating north"? I wish I had a crystal ball... the truth of the matter is we just do not know - It's up to them. 

I had a wonderful visit with Deke and Rebecca last week. Deke had us laughing constantly with his antics. It was great to see his sense of humour is still very much intact as this will help him as he continues his rehabilitation. He asked about the birds and also when the new chicks for this years study would be hatching at Patuxent. He expressed his gratitude to everyone that has sent cards and letters to him.  Deke will be undergoing a delicate surgery to unblock his carotid artery this Friday. Please think positive thoughts and pray for a successful outcome for our friend this Friday morning. Thank you.

Notes: Our friend Deke continues to travel the long road to recovery, assisted by his immediate family and close friends. Daily reports from Washington indicate the doctors and therapists are encouraged by the progress he has made since arriving at the rehabilitation center two weeks ago. I'll be flying down early next week to spend a couple days visiting with him and Rebecca and will pass on the large number of supportive messages that have arrived in the last week. During the past month, we've spoken with many people that have experienced first-hand the recovery process of stroke survivors and it appears the common thread to a successful recovery is a network of family and friends that are able to offer assistance with physical and speech therapy sessions. Deke has his network and we only wish we lived closer so that we could be part of it on a daily basis.

Last week we attended the annual Whoop It Up Festival in Port Aransas, Texas, which is the winter home to the only remaining wild migratory flock of 174 Whooping Cranes. Each fall, this flock migrates from the Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the gulf coast of Texas with their young of the year. The young cranes learn this traditional migration route by following their parents - just as the chicks we raised last year followed their mechanical parents, learning a new route and in doing so became the pioneers which will pass on their knowledge to future generations. The 3-day festival was hosted by the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce and they did a wonderful job of coordinating the many events, speakers and field trips. We were treated to a boat tour onboard the Wharf Cat with Captain Ray Little, which carried us out, through the Intracoastal waterway and into the territories occupied by the Whooping cranes. On one hand, it was an encounter I wish anyone that has an interest in cranes can experience, yet on the other hand, I hope that few will actually go so that these precious few remaining birds will have some semblance of privacy. To see these huge, long barges trundle along; transporting chemicals through the narrow coastal passage, and at times less than 200 ft. from the foraging Whoopers is alarming and reinforces the need for a second, discrete migratory flock.

Fortunately the people of this area realize the treasure they are responsible for and continue to work toward solutions to minimize potential threats to the cranes and to educate others about the critical balance of nature needed to ensure the survival of this last wild flock. 

The score in Florida remains (thankfully) at Cranes 5 - Bobcats 0 and the monitoring team, consisting of Richard Urbanek and Ann Lacey, who has replaced Sara Zimorski report that during the last week the cranes continued their established pattern of exiting the pen in the early morning for a quick flight, followed by a period of foraging just outside the pen. Previously they would fly to an area southeast of the release pen to forage. This is an area which had undergone a prescribed burn last fall to remove some of the tall, abrasive needle rush and to provide them with an additional foraging area, however, the needle rush has since regenerated to a height of approximately 28" and the birds are reluctant to walk through it.

Daily water levels ranged from a low of 17" to a high of 45". On the two nights when the levels were at the lowest, the cranes roosted in the water inside the safety of the release pen. On the remaining nights when the tidal level was too high they roosted inside the pen but on land. The cranes were observed probing in the pool within the pen whenever tide was low enough to do so, and capture and consumption of several crabs was noted. While three live-traps were run continuously during the week and all that was captured were three turkey vultures. No signs of bobcat have been observed near the pen since the second cat was trapped and relocated on January 18th.

It was February 25th last year when the ultralight-led Sandhill cranes departed Florida and began their unaided return flight to central Wisconsin and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Whooping cranes mature a bit slower than Sandhill cranes and the whoopers currently at the Chassahowitzka refuge are a full month younger than the Y2K Sandhills were at this time. It remains anyone's guess as to when they will initiate their northern journey but the Argos NASA Satellite has been providing data every other day since Feb. 20th in anticipation of their departure. The monitoring team has two vehicles both equipped with radio receivers and as soon as the young birds head north Richard and Ann will be on the road, tracking them as they return north - without the aid of their mechanical surrogate parents. 

Stay tuned for updates...

A chemical barge passes close by the wintering location in Texas.	Two wild adults and their juvenile forage on the wintering grounds in Texas.

Notes: We spent last week in Crystal River, FL attending four full days of Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership meetings and have spent all of this week attempting to get caught up on the tasks that always seem to accumulate when we are away from headquarters. Often people are under the impression that once our migration flight is completed and we have safely delivered our feathered charges to their wintering destination that we get to spend the next few months relaxing, before diving into another training season in the spring with a new flock of birds. While we certainly wish this were the case, it simply is not. There just never seems to be enough hours in a day to accomplish everything.

We're happy to report that our friend Deke has been moved to an excellent rehab center and is continuing the long journey to recovery. He and his family are grateful for all of the wonderfully encouraging words of support that he has received from you. Many have sent cards and letters to us to pass on to Deke and in fact one of his children commented to me that they couldn't believe the number of people that have come to know and support their father through this reintroduction project. Deke has touched many lives and we remain hopeful he will return to our flock one day soon.

As remarked by one of the partners last week, the current score in Florida is still: Cranes 5, Bobcats 0; with no visible signs of Bobcats present on the island. Three live-traps have been set up since the middle of January and the monitoring team have not seen any scat or paw prints in the area. The only prize caught in the trap over the past four weeks has been a rather embarrassed Raccoon which was released as soon as it was discovered.

The ICF monitoring team continue to make the long airboat ride to the island each day, ensuring the safety of the birds and to record observations about their behaviour. With the assistance of a solar powered video monitoring system, team members are able to remain in the blind and still keep a watchful eye over the flock. Efforts to encourage the cranes to roost in areas of water inside the release enclosure continue, with results largely dependant upon the level of the ever fluctuating tide. On one night during our visit last week the tide was approximately 2-3" the lowest its been all winter. The very next evening it was recorded at almost 30". 

Y2K Sandhill Crane News:
On February 2nd Richard Urbanek flew on an aerial survey of known Sandhill crane wintering areas in north/north central Florida where crane #5 was located in a wetland area just east of Inverness in Citrus County. Additionally, Richard was able to confirm that the #8 Sandhill crane is indeed still alive (see Jan. 27 report below) as on Feb. 4 this crane was detected at Jasper-Pulaski in Indiana. This bird has been out of contact since last winter when it was at St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve in Florida and while it had departed with its flock mates heading north on Feb. 25th, had failed to return to the Necedah area. Crane #4 was also reported at Jasper-Pulaski on Jan. 31st. 

It has been a strange year for migration, with cranes staying much longer than usual at the northern staging areas before heading south toward the end of January. It would appear that the wild population of Sandhills did not stay for very long at their normal southern terminus as the refuge Manager reported that more than half of the ~10,000 cranes departed northbound from Hiwassee on January 27th.

Notes: How important Deke has become to the entire team in the short time we have known him speaks to the quality of his personality. He is an integral part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership and a participant on the Bird Team. He is a strong influence on the Operation Migration Board of Directors but contributes most of his time to the Field Team as a pilot, bird handler and calming voice of humour and reason when the pressures of migration weigh heavily on us all. Most of the team last visited with Deke during the Whooping Crane Recovery Team meeting held in January when we began the week-long session with a short ski trip in Quebec. 

This week the team is meeting again in Florida where most conversations begin with "how's Deke doing"? At last report he was responding to the doctors with hand gestures and it was evident that his humour is still intact when he was asked to raise one finger. On Monday his respirator tube was removed along with the monitor and when the doctor casually asked him how he was doing, he unexpectedly answered "better." 

Mostly, Deke is missed as a friend and confidant to everyone he works with. Last week we ordered new aircraft to replace the aging trikes we now use and  once they arrive we will modify them to fly with birds. One of them will carry Deke's name as "pilot in command" and it will be waiting for him, whenever he is ready to resume his position as leader of birds. All of us pray for his safe return and look forward to the day he will again join us in the fight to save Whooping cranes. Thank you to everyone that has sent cards and letters. Rebecca is reading these to Deke as she receives them and he smiles when he hears your words of encouragement and support.

Notes: We learned last Tuesday that the remains of #10 had been located not far from the shallow creek where the bird was last seen on Jan. 10th. It was evident that we had lost a second bird to a Bobcat. A live trap had been placed between the pen site and the monitoring blind and on Jan. 18th a male cat was successfully trapped and relocated and while it is impossible to determine if this is the one responsible for the death of #10, it is still another Bobcat removed from the area.

Sara Zimorski from the International Crane Foundation has joined Richard Urbanek in Florida to assist with monitoring duties. Sara helped the field team last summer at Necedah NWR and also traveled with the migration team as part of the tracking crew during the trip south. Sara has watched these birds mature and is familiar with the personalities of each of them. Over the past week she has attempted to convince the birds that they should stay in the pen each night instead of roosting outside of the enclosure. Each evening, Sara was positioned inside the release pen where she would broadcast the brood call to the birds. This method worked on 6 of the 7 nights and on one evening when the tide was low (about 20") the birds roosted in one of the pools inside the enclosure. Water levels over the week ranged from 20" - 32" with thick, black muck probably accounting for 14-17".  Birds were observed stomping and shaking their feet to remove muck after spending time in the pool inside the pen.

Before Sara's technique of persuading the flock to remain in the pen for the night, they had generally continued with the consistent pattern in which they would forage outside the pen in early morning, return to the pen and spend most of the day there, then leave the pen just before dark. 

The monitoring team reports that on January 17th, #2 produced the adult call while the others still have their chick voices. Dark facial pattern is well developed on all birds with the exception of #6.

During Marianne Wellington's drive home to Wisconsin from Florida she stopped at the Hiwassee refuge, a known Sandhill crane staging area in Tennessee to check for transmitter signals from the Y2K Sandhill's. The Sandhills had stayed longer than expected at the Jasper Pulaski staging area along with approximately 10,000 wild cranes but signals had not been detected at JP since January 10th. Marianne reports that signals were detected at Hiwassee on January 22nd from cranes  4, 8, 11, 12, and possibly 9, who is wearing an unreliable transmitter. Visuals were attempted but none made because of obstruction by the 10,000 cranes concentrated in the area. The report of #8 is most unexpected and will be further investigated because that bird has been missing since last winter when it departed from Florida along with the flock of 10 birds on February 25th but failed to appear at the Wisconsin training site. 

All of the us at Operation Migration and the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership were shocked to learn on Monday afternoon that Deke Clark had suffered a stroke sometime during the day while at home in Maryland. Rebecca was visiting family in Mexico at the time and Deke was alone. We first discovered the problem when we called Deke and noticed he was having difficulty speaking. We tried to call an ambulance from Canada but were unable to get a quick response. We did manage to reach Dan Sprague who also lives in Maryland and he made the 911 call. Deke was first taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Washington, DC where he remains in CCU.  I saw him on Tuesday morning and although he could not talk, he knew us all and communicated through facial expressions. As usual, he made us laugh and the twinkle in his eye was still there. Although Deke has a hard road ahead of him we are all confident he will make a full recovery. In the years that we have known him he has been never one to sit back and watch. Even before retiring from a stellar career with United Airlines he began calling us, wanting to help. Since that time we have depended on him as an integral part of the field team, a member of our Board of Directors and a true friend. So Deke - get well soon and whenever you are ready… your aircraft awaits.  

Anyone wishing to send letters/cards to Deke, please send them to our Canadian address and we will personally deliver them. Thank you.

Operation Migration
c/o Deke Clark
P.O. Box 280
Blackstock, ON
L0B 1B0

Notes: There has been no sign of our #10 crane since she failed to return with the others on the morning of January 10th and a ground search by two costumed caretakers for a probable bobcat kill was unsuccessful.  Richard reports that the other five birds continue their consistent pattern in which they forage outside the pen in very early morning, return to the pen and spend most of the day there, then leave the pen just before dark to forage in or near a roost site outside the pen. Water roosting behaviour is dependant on water levels: if the tide is low they have been seen roosting in water, while if the tide is high they prefer to stay on land. 

While the monitoring crew has been busy in Florida; the team at headquarters in Ontario has been on the go wrapping up last year's study and preparing for this year's. Plans are being made; reports created; budgets drafted and finalized; grant requests authored and submitted; and meetings attended. Joe, Deke and I recently attended the annual Whooping Crane Recovery Team meeting, held this year in our nation's capitol, Ottawa. The four-day schedule consisted of presentations and reports dealing with everything from captive breeding management and the status of the Wood Buffalo/Aransas flock; to the fresh water inflow situation in Texas and how, if something is not done to correct the problem, there will not be enough Blue crabs to sustain the cranes during their winter stay in Texas. The Blue crab is a critical dietary component for the Whooping crane and recent studies have indicated a correlation between the amount of available crabs during the winter and the number of chicks hatched on the Canadian breeding grounds the following spring. When the winter crab population is low - egg production and the number of resulting chicks also declines - Another example of why we need to conserve water. 

Before the talks wrapped up the ten member recovery team met to discuss the various reports and make recommendations. Decisions were made which will affect this rarest of crane species and move the team closer to the goal of protecting and safeguarding the Whooping crane. 

Based on the projected number of hatches at the captive breeding centers, the team has allocated 18 chicks to the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership for this year's reintroduction project. The birds should begin hatching in April and another field training season will get underway but until then we will continue to attend the numerous meetings and conference calls and endeavor to raise the funds necessary to carry out year two of the reintroduction of Whooping cranes into eastern North America.

Our immediate need for funding is to cover the cost of three new ultralight aircraft. The trikes we have been using were purchased for the film Fly Away Home made in 1995 and since then they have logged hundreds of hours in flight with four bird species: Canada geese, Trumpeter swans, Sandhill cranes and most recently Whooping cranes. The rigorous ground work necessary to condition the young birds to accept and follow the aircraft in flight is unkind to the tiny planes.  These replacement ultralights will guide a new flock of whoopers through each of the four years remaining in this historic endeavor.

President Jimmy Carter visited the flight team at one of our Georgia stopovers last November and the topic of replacing the aircraft was discussed. He and wife Roslyn personally pledged a check in the amount of $1000.00 to start the fund for the new equipment. True to their word, approximately three weeks ago, their check arrived at our office. This is a great start toward our goal, however, each unit, modified to fly with birds, carries a ticket price of just under $20,000.00 so we have a long way to go and once ordered, delivery from the manufacturer in France is another 6 weeks past the order date. Once here, the necessary modifications must be made, including the addition of the propeller guards which protect the cranes from getting too close to the prop. Time is running out - but as always, we remain optimistic that everything will fall into place before the field training season begins.

Notes: Radio tracking devices like the ones that our birds wear have a tough life; attached upside down to the leg band they must be completely waterproof and temperature insensitive. They must contain enough battery life to last several migrations; weigh less than 30 grams; and be strong enough to withstand the constant pecking of birds wishing to be unencumbered. It is not surprising when one malfunctions and that is what happened to the radio unit on crane #10.
On Sunday, January 6^th the monitoring team noticed the absence of a signal from this bird's transmitter and asked the WCEP Bird Team for approval to change the unit. This means capturing the bird, cutting the old band off and refitting a new one. The entire time the bird must be hooded to prevent her seeing humans and held in what handlers call the standard football carry; keeping the wings protected from injury and the legs accessible - not to mention the beak safely out of jabbing range. With approval obtained, the plan was to switch the band in the morning on Thursday, January 10th but when the team, including Marilyn Spalding DVM, Richard Urbanek and Marianne Wellington arrived, #10 was not with the rest of the flock.
The night before, all the birds had moved out of the pen to roost in an area that was not the best. In order to be safe, wading birds like cranes sleep in water at night. This makes it difficult for predators to sneak up on them without being noticed. The area our birds selected was a narrow stream with the shoreline so close that a bobcat could easily pounce on them. Although we have no evidence of what happened, we do know that in the morning the rest of the birds returned to the pen but #10 was not with them. There are many documented cases of birds that have disappeared - only to turn up, sometimes years later but without a tracking device we can only wait and hope.

Previous Field Journal: Summer, 2001