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Remembering Darrell Leidigh
On January 17, 2008, cranes lost a man who treasured them. After a battle with cancer, businessman and conservationist, Darrell Leidigh, passed away at his home near his beloved Sandhills along the shore of Crystal Lake in Lake Mary, just north of Orlando, Florida.
Darrell was raised on a farm in northwest Ohio. In 1958 he moved to Florida and established a business building pontoon boats. In 1964 he married Bettye Sigety and they established a successful business, Mohawk Canoes.
When they built their home beside Crystal Lake in 1984 the waters were clear, the bottom sandy and there was little aquatic vegetation. As more homes sprang up, nutrients from lawns and a nearby golf course washed into the lake and everything changed.
The water clouded, aquatic plants flourished and the sand was covered by dark mud. But the nutrient enriched lake soon became a haven for cranes and other aquatic birds.
The first pair of Sandhill Cranes appeared in 1990. The Leidighs were fascinated by these charismatic birds that were large in size and voice. Almost every evening Darrell and Bettye paddled a canoe and later used a pontoon boat to observe their new feathered neighbors.
Over the years the number of breeding pairs around the lake increased to six. The Leidigh's carefully documented the unfolding drama of courtship, nesting, rearing young and dumping juveniles with nearby flocks before the onset of the next breeding cycle.
Several times a mate of a breeding pair was displaced by another. One female assumed the role of defending the territory while her mate recovered from an injury. The male of the first pair had a white spot on his grey nape. All the males that subsequently established territories around the lake also had the white spot. The Leidighs guessed those male were offspring of the first male. Perhaps familiarity with the area in which they were reared facilitates securing a breeding territory in the same vicinity?
In my last conversation with Darrell, he indicated that by observing one pair of cranes within a few feet of their nest, he was convinced the eggs are held atop the middle toe of the incubating cranes!
To prevent more development around Crystal Lake, the Leidighs purchased 40 acres of lakefront and adjacent virgin scrub and forest across the water from their home. The land is permanently protected and is known as the Crystal Lake Preserve.
It is managed through income generated from a foundation they set up. Through their generosity to ICF, support was provided for studies of Sarus Cranes in India and the construction of the new chick isolation rearing complex at ICF headquarters.
The Leidighs traveled with me to Bhutan to see Black-necked Cranes and Darrell accompanied me to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Russia and Wood Buffalo Park, Canada to participate in a diversity of conservation projects.
Darrell frequently called me with his fresh crane news. He was genuinely a friend of cranes and wild areas and will be remembered for fine canoes and his many contributions to conservation. In the meantime, Bettye will continue to care for the cranes and their habitats around Crystal Lake.
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