Greetings all!
The following report is forwarded with permission from Tom Stehn, USFWS
biologist and US Whooping Crane Coordinator.
CONGRATULATIONS to
everyone involved in and concerned about this wonderful recovery effort! Each
time the next delicate milestone is reached, it really crystalizes just how
effective everyone's role is in helping the whooping crane rebuild its
population. From biologists to educators to the sneaker net -- every role is
important!
As spring migration gets underway, please be sure and report all whooping crane
migrational sightings. Tom's email address is in his signature block below.
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An aerial whooping crane census of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and
surrounding areas was conducted on 14 March, 2007 by Pilot Jim Bredy and
observers Patrick Walther and Tom Stehn. Observations of cranes were recorded
during the scheduled monthly waterfowl survey. My thanks go to Jim and Patrick
for their willingness to help out the whooping crane recovery program.
All of the crane range on Matagorda Island was covered, with just a few
observations made in other parts of the crane range. Visibility was somewhat
limited by overcast skies and haze. Areas covered in about 3 ½ hours of flight
time were all of Matagorda Island, with only a single transect made over
Aransas, San Jose Island, and Welder Flats.
The census found 64 adults and 11 chicks = 75 total. The total flock size
remains estimated at 237. The highlight of the flight was finding the North
Cottonwood family group that had apparently been exposed to oiled water during
the fall migration and had gotten stained. I had been unable to find them on my
last two flights. I identified the family from a color band seen on the right
leg of one of the adults. Although I could not get a look at their bellies, no
staining was apparent on the feathers on the upper leg, indicating that the
birds have lost some of the staining present last fall.
The priority for this flight was to look for any juvenile mortality that may
have occurred and to document use of uplands and prescribed burns. No evidence
of crane mortality has been discovered this winter. The Northeast Bray and Inlet
families were back on their Matagorda Island territories, families that have
wandered some this winter and been difficult to keep track of.
Habitat use included 14 cranes on prescribed burns, 7 cranes on uplands, and no
cranes in open bay habitat. Six cranes were on the refuge's C3 burn, and 8
cranes on burns on Matagorda. The upland use and some of the burn use was
promoted by heavy rains that fell earlier in the week, flooding many grassland
swales in the uplands.
Flights will hopefully be conducted every 7-10 days in April to document the
upcoming migration. So far, 3 whooping cranes were observed starting the
migration on March 8th from Aransas, and a single whooping crane was confirmed
present on March 16th on the Platte River in Nebraska. This single may be the
whooping crane now in its third winter that has never been to Aransas and was
seen this past winter in January near Bay City, Texas.
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/