02.20.19 Whooping Cranes!

Today I begin a new journey to the southeastern corner of Texas and the Rio Grande in search of the Whooping Crane. This endangered bird was the subject of several grade school book reports and I am sorry to say the bird is still endangered. It was estimated that there were once 20,000 whooping cranes in North America. There were around 20 or so when I was in school, now there are only 505 in the wild on last count. There are three populations that are “in captivity” – efforts in progress to restore them to the wild. The last report I saw indicate there may be 300 birds in these populations in Louisiana and Florida. But the Whooping Cranes have a difficult time adapting and many efforts have had minimal success. So, no better time than now to observe this bird that had captured my imagination and scholarly works all those years ago.

There are many reasons for this magnificent creature to be endangered – loss of habitat, natural disasters, predators, only one surviving offspring per reproductive season, and of course man. Even though it should be widely known that the bird is endangered, there are several reported intentional shootings of the birds in the areas of their natural habitat. Please read the report on Wikipedia. The fines are far too inconsequential, in my opinion. The bird has a long migration route, wintering in Aransas Wildlife Refuge, Texas and enjoying the Spring and Summer in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta/Northwest Territories, Canada and Wisconsin. In 2018, 98 whooping crane nests were identified in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Of course there will be searches for many more birds to add to my life list and I am excited to see some new ones, such as the roadrunner and the white tailed hawk. And of course, it would be really special to see a painted bunting.  Binoculars ready, camera fully charged with a new card, and I am off on a new adventure.

Here are a few pictures of this magnificent creature. It was raining and cold and we were on a boat in the early morning hours going through the wildlife refuge on a guided tour. I saw 5 whooping cranes, three close enough to photograph. There were 14 other birds much further off in the distance. I do hope you enjoy the photographs of these very special birds.

The bird with the reddish head feathers is the immature bird, less than one year old.

This one caught a crab!

Bands on the legs for tracking purposes.

This was a very special trip and maybe the blog serves as my "book report" on the Whooping Crane! We all should make the most of our efforts to protect and preserve all creatures. One good storm and we may lose an entire species of birds.

Will post more soon about the rest of the trip and some of the amazing birds I had the opportunity to observe.

Until next time...……...