How many young Whooping crane chicks are expected to be on the migration this year?  What was done to eliminate the illness that was so devastating the past two years at Patuxent?  And how are the recent hatches doing at Necedah?  Answers to these and other exciting details are revealed in Whoopers Happening 46.  So, download or click the button below and listen as a few of the people who know these rare and special birds best talk about what has been happening and how they are doing this year.

Scenes like the above will become commonplace over Necedah NWR in the weeks ahead as the Operation Migration team conducts flight training with the new chicks, forming the Class of 2009. 
photo: Mark Chenoweth

Download | Duration: 00:13:18

 

      

The new duck stamp for 2009 are now available, and can be purchased on the web or at your local post office.  The great part about making a purchase of a stamp is that 98% of your purchase goes to helping protect wetlands and secure habitat across the US.  Most refuges also allow you free admission upon showing your stamp when visiting.

      

All of the Whooping crane nests at Necedah failed this year, with the Black Fly infestation being blamed for parents abandoning their nests. This has happened the past several years, and biologists are working to do what they can to solve this problem.  Using pesticides at a national refuge is not allowed, so other solutions must be invoked.

      

With 4 nests still incubating as this podcast is published, it's only another day or two before we know if new chicks will be hatched; this is a major concern for the WCEP team.  It's been 3 years since the first wild Whooping crane pair hatched at Necedah... the first wild pair in Wisconsin in over a century.  With the first 11 nests all having failed, the hopes now are for the pairs that re-nested to have successful hatches.  The chick that has its own mate now, W601, was the result of re-nesting with one parental pair (#211 &  #217) now also nesting at Necedah NWR.

Download | Duration: 00:11:30

      

Photo: Female Whooper adult at Lowry Park Zoo, 2005.  Mark Chenoweth

The flock lost another bird last week.  But this time it wasn’t predation, power lines, accident or illness that caused the loss.   This bird is still alive.  One bird that had taken advantage of a woman feeding wild birds in her backyard was simply becoming ‘too tame’, and his association with humans and food was a concern for the WCEP 

They discussed this bird and his fate for weeks.  The bird, #710, from the Class of 2007 Whooper chicks, was not injured nor had he caused any physical threat or injury to anyone.  Other Whoopers were also fed by a woman in Hernando County, Florida last winter.  The WCEP tracking team talked with this lady, and asked her to please refrain from feeding the birds. They explained that the large, white birds were rare and had a huge investment in time and money, and needed to be wild but her feeders were attracting them.  Her other neighbors did cooperate and stopped feeding for a time, but in spite of their pleading, she continued to feed the Whoopers, other wild birds and Sandhills.  It was HER property and she felt she could act as she wished.

Last week Whooping crane #710 was captured in his wild environment and flown to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. The Lowry Zoo is one of the top zoos in America, and had lost the male portion of its Whooping crane pair early last year. Friday he was placed in routine quarantine at Lowry for at least 30 days.  

He will be well-cared for and on display with the female there.  She is a very sweet bird and older than 710. She came from the non-migrating flock on the Kissimmee prairie after suffering an injury a while back.  

With the actions of one selfish individual, all was undone and this bird lost its freedom.   The protection of the entire flock must be the prime concern, and other Whoopers making human association was their worst fear.  But so far this has not happened.

We look forward to seeing #710 in his new habitat in Tampa, and there will be more here about his new home and how he is doing very soon.  In the meantime, 4 nests are still being incubated at Necedah… in the next few days we’ll know if new baby Whooping cranes have been hatched.  

      

In trying to take all that happens each month and make a summary or compilation in brief, it leaves many things that must be left out due to time and just simply interest which some things have over others.  However, most important aspects get their time on this podcast or are focused on by the media.  One is the Crane Cam which is new, but will become more familiar in the months ahead.  

      

The Whoopers are flying back home, and at least 4 of the 7 Class of 2008 at Chassahowitzka NWR have headed for Necedah.  There have been about 30 birds arriving so far, and with a total of about 84 birds, more than half will be making the journey very soon. The International Crane Foundation's Sara Zimorski heads the winter monitoring team at Chass, and she also takes acre of the insemination of the parental pairs at the ICF.  

Download | Duration: 00:00:00

      

This time around I talk with Joe Duff about the migration and how he feels things went, and top cover pilots Don and Paula Lounsbury at the Dunnellon Airport flyover in January. 

Coming up in the next several weeks, we'll hear what Beverly Paulan and Brooke Pennypacker said about the migration, raising the chicks, and their thoughts about the pending northern migration, which always brings bittersweet feelings from those working closest to these wonderful chicks! 

Don't forget, you can post a comment or ask a question below in the new Whooper Happenings Blog.  We may not know the answer, but we know who does! 

Thanks for listening to Whooper Happenings #42!

Photo:  a trio of chicks at St. Mark's just don't want to let Bev tuck them in for the night.  They'd rather be flying, and even their costumed Mom doesn't blame them!  But their exercise fun makes bedtime a chore almost every night Bev told us!

      

Download | Duration: 00:14:36