St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge has been one of the winter release sites for ultralight-led Whooping Cranes since 2008. This year’s cohort is nearly here, so Whooping Cranes seem to be on everyone’s minds. Every time Amy and I are in our tracking van and stop at a gas station, coffee shop, or grocery store, we often get asked “Is that for tracking storms?” or “You must get great reception with that thing.” But when we’re around the refuge, more often than not it’s “When are the cranes getting here?!” By looking at Operation Migration’s In the Field journal, it looks like the answer to that question is: very soon. While Amy and I were in the area, we did our best to find all of the previously-released cranes. We came upon some familiar faces. Last year when I was here, Sloane and I tracked 4-12 while he was hanging out around the pen with the 2014 cohort. This year, he seems to be up to his old antics. 4-12, 3-14, and 9-14 travelled around together, exploring some of the same areas as last year. 5-12 is also back in the area, along with 4-13 and 7-14. It will be interesting to see if 7-14, the only female in this group, ends up pairing with one of these males. The most difficult crane to find at St. Mark’s was 4-14, also known as “Peanut”. We triangulated him for most of the day, but I did catch a quick glimpse of him walking through some mud flats with a group of herons. With the arrival of the 2015 cohort, I’ll be interested to hear if or how the group dynamics will change. We had a lovely time tracking Whooping Cranes on the refuge and enjoyed the beautiful landscape and the amazing wildlife. In the last few days we saw many different species of birds, a river otter, a few white-tailed deer, and a raccoon wandering through the marsh. My favorite sighting (besides the cranes of course) was a Reddish Egret! Life bird! |
13 Comments
Sharon Leigh Miles
1/19/2016 03:31:17 pm
What a great update concerning the UL cranes at St. Marks. I always love to hear that they are doing well. Nice to hear "Peanut" is doing fine also. Did you get over to the "cow pond" to see 11-09? It seems as though we will miss meeting one another in person. Maybe our paths will cross again. Love your updates and will look forward to hearing more of your adventure.
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Ann Gillis
1/19/2016 05:36:45 pm
Enjoyed reading of your adventures tracking those gorgeous cranes. We love all the information we can receive. Keep the news coming please.
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Ruth Mitchell
1/19/2016 06:36:18 pm
Thank you so much for all of the information...I have been a follower of Operation Migration for several years now and I appreciate the information that you shared with us. Thank you for caring for your beautiful Whooping Cranes
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Marsha Lynn Walsh
1/20/2016 03:08:05 am
Keep up the good work. We love hearing about our W Cranes :)
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Lori Verhagen
1/20/2016 07:35:55 am
Thanks for sharing this info - and the pics are amazing!! Looking forward to more Whooper Adventures!!
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charlotte mullen
1/20/2016 08:51:15 am
So happy to hear that you and others are tracking the activities of our beloved whoopers. Hopefully, the class of 2015 will not be the last class to be led by the ultralights!
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Karyn Price
1/20/2016 09:23:07 am
~~Thank you for all you do~~I am glad you shared your findings~~Looks and sounds like you enjoy what you do~~Thanks so much~~
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Marianna Sadowski
1/20/2016 10:33:55 am
Great to read your updates and see the photos of "our" whoopers! Thanks for informing us....enjoy!!
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Jane Reilly
1/20/2016 02:59:12 pm
Thank you for your wonderful work keeping track of the lovely birds! And thank you for taking the time to share your research with those of us who love the birds!
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Laura Rowan
1/20/2016 03:30:41 pm
Great job on your blog. Please continue as we love to hear about the birds. I wonder if I met you at Jasper this fall. You were in the tracking van looking for the DAR bird that left during the storm.
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Hillary Thompson
1/20/2016 07:16:17 pm
That may have actually been Karis who works for ICF and was tracking DAR birds! Maybe we'll meet somewhere along the way! :)
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Cathy Fouche
1/20/2016 05:59:56 pm
Thank you so much for all that you do, and for sharing it with us. It is always a treasure to see and hear about these birds that we all love so much.
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Hillary Thompson
1/20/2016 07:16:54 pm
Thank you all! Check back for more updates from the field! :)
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Hillary ThompsonThese are updates and newsletter articles I have written about my work with Whooping Cranes. Archives
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