The first whooping cranes have reached their nesting grounds in Canada! Thanks to Wally Jobman of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for sending the news.
Can you find Wood Buffalo National Park on a map (60 N, 114 W)? It took years for biologists to discover this place! It is located in a remote region on the border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Back in the 1940's, when people realized how small the whooping crane population had become, they began to search for the cranes' nesting grounds. For 3 years they searched the Canadian wilderness with no success. It wasn't until 1945, when a wildfire broke out in the park, that the nesting grounds were discovered. It's an area of boggy wetlands, so swampy that it's sometimes difficult even for a helicopter to touch down.
During the breeding season, each female usually lays two eggs and the parents take turns tending the nest. The eggs hatch after a month but usually only one chick survives. The chicks can walk within a few hours of hatching. Within 2 1/2 short months the young will have grown to adult size and be able to fly--just in time to for the return trip to Texas in September--and Tom Stehn's careful watch.
To: Journey North
From: Wally Jobman,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
"I just made contact with Brian Johns, Canadian Wildlife Service in Ft. Smith, NWT. He flew a nesting survey on May 4 over about 1/2 of the nesting area in Wood Buffalo National Park. He found 24 whooping cranes and 7 nests.
"The evening of May 4th it snowed and temperatures are expected to be below freezing until May 8th. A high of -5 C (23F) was expected today. He will not do further surveys until the snow melts. He estimated that "ice-out" occurred on May 4th. On that date the shallow wetlands and most of the rivers were open, though the larger lakes were still frozen. However, today everything was covered ice- covered again."
"I would expect most of the birds to be in Canada by now. The only birds still in the U.S. are probably subadults and non-breeding birds. The only observations reported last week were sightings during the week of April 21. As of May 2, all but two whooping cranes had left Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.
"Since last Monday (April 29), any cranes migrating would have made slow progress. Good migrating weather was limited in the central U. S. North winds were prevalent each day, although not real strong."
Date..............Location
04/14-23/96..........SOUTH DAKOTA
........................Potter County (5 mi. west & 4 mi. south of
Gettysburg).
........................2 Cranes
04/24/96.............NORTH DAKOTA
........................Renville County (18 mi. north & 2 mi. west of Minot).
........................2 + 1 Cranes
04/27/96.............NORTH DAKOTA
........................Burke County (6 mi. south & 3 west of Bowbells).
........................2 + 1 Cranes
05/05/96.............KANSAS
........................Edwards County (near Belpre).
........................2 Cranes
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