Greetings all!

The following report is forwarded with permission from Tom Stehn, USFWS biologist and US Whooping Crane Coordinator.

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Here are the latest confirmed sightings complied by Brian Johns of the Canadian Wildlife Service and Martha Tacha of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Saskatchewan

11/10 2+2 Banded pair and 2 young are at Buffer Lake northeast of Saskatoon. These birds have been around since Oct. 22.
11/09 and 11/10 2+1 a family group at Filmore Nov. 9 and 10.
11/05 2+1 a family group of three at Serath east of Last Mountain Lake;

In the U.S.

11/10 2+1 Cheyenne Bottoms WMA, KS
11/10 2+1 Salt Plains NWR, OK
11/5 2+0 Salt Plains NWR (may be 2 of group seen 11/4)
11/4 2+0 Quivira NWR, KS
11/4 3+0 Salt Plains NWR, OK
11/4-6 1+0 Nueces County, TX SE part of Corpus Christi, SW of Oso Bay

There are a couple more recent sightings from central Kansas, the details of which will be included in a future update.

Many whooping cranes are expected to arrive at Aransas NWR on November 16 associated with a strong cold front that is crossing the plains and forecast to bring snow to the Dakotas.

Tom Stehn
Whooping Crane Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Aransas NWR
P.O. Box 100
Austwell, TX 77950
(361) 286-3559 Ext. 221
fax (361) 286-3722
E:mail: tom_stehn@fws.gov

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Where applicable, CWS stands for Canadian Wildlife Service; USFWS is US Fish and Wildlife Service. Crane monitoring involves cooperative efforts and support by both countries, plus many volunteers and non-profit organizations along the way.

Anyone wanting to contact Tom about the report or the whooping crane projects can reach him via email at: tom_stehn@fws.gov. Other information, including archived copies of these reports, can be found at the Texas Whooping Crane web site at http://www.ccbirding.com/

Patty Waits Beasley
Corpus Christi, TX
email: patty@ccbirding.com
web:  http://www.ccbirding.com/