Happy Birthday, Aransas NWR, Winter Home of the Whoopers
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge had its 73rd birthday on New Years Eve 2010. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established ANWR for the protection of migratory birds on December 31, 1937. The 73rd birthday had a party and a cake. But look closer! It was also the first "Tom Stehn Day" in Aransas Pass where Tom lives, close to the refuge where the whoopers spend the winter. Since 1982 Tom has watched over the flock that migrates over 5,000 miles to and from Canada to spend winters on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Tom is also the leader of the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team. The team guides decisions on behalf of all the world's endangered Whooping cranes. We celebrate Tom Stehn for his years of dedication to the cranes — and to Journey North readers like you! How does the cake's design pay tribute to Tom? More. . .

Below: Tom loves silly moments so he dressed up in a costume like the crane handlers wear whenever they are near the captive cranes for the new Eastern flock. It looks like fun!