On October 27, 2001 the first whooping crane family group of the fall in
Texas
was sighted on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Based on the
general
location of where it was seen, and Canadian data on what pairs still
had
chicks in August, the family could be the N. Sundown Bay family group
from
nest 34/01. I'll try to confirm this on my next aerial census flight
on
November 1.
At present, 12+1=13 whoopers are accounted for at Aransas. We had
good
migration conditions for cranes to arrive October 25-27, with the
first
whoopers of the fall sighted October 25th. I heard geese flying
overhead
during that period and saw white-fronts this morning (Oct. 29th) at
Aransas.
The Pacific low currently in the central U.S. is NOT pushing into
Oklahoma
or Texas. The next front expected to reach the Texas coast is
forecast to
arrive on November 4.
Tom Stehn