December 1 was the last day of my five day aerial trip.  The Windway plane had to be back at its headquarters in Sheboygan, Wisconsin around noon, so Pilot Jesse Jacobson and I were planning on just briefly checking some of the cranes we had found on our way down south as we headed back to Wisconsin.  We started in Greene County, Indiana, flying over a Fish and Wildlife Area where we have two pairs of Whooping Cranes (#'s 12-02/19-04 and 13-03/18-03).  I didn't spend any time trying to get visuals, as we usually get quite a few reports of the birds there, and the folks that work there also have radio tracking equipment and send regular reports to us about the birds’ status.  Our next stop was in Vigo County, Indiana.  Here we circled for a while trying to get a visual.  We couldn't find the pair (#'s 10-03/W1-06) on the ground, so I decided since we were on a timeline; we should probably keep heading north.  As we turned to leave the area, I spotted them in a marshy pond.  I drew a little map for myself so I could look up the point later on Google Earth. 

As we approached the location in Vermillion County, Indiana, where pair #'s 11-02/17-02 (the parents of the only surviving wild hatched chick, #W1-06, and parents of a deceased chick from last year) were located, I initially only heard a signal for male #11-02.  I wasn't too concerned at first, because I had had a similar experience a few days ago, where I could only hear one bird well until I was much closer to the location.  I figured his mate was probably in water which was making the signal so much weaker.  However, when we arrived at the location and I still could barely hear #17-02's signal, I began to get a little worried.  Then I saw #11-02 ALONE, foraging in a marsh that I had spotted both of them in only three days ago. 

Jesse and I circled around the point as I confirmed there was only one Whooping Crane in the vicinity.  I could occasionally hear #17-02's signal, and I directed Jesse towards the area where it was coming from--about 2-3 miles away from her mate.  Not good.  Once Whooping Cranes pair, especially ones that have built nests and raised chicks, they do not separate from each other by more than a few hundred meters (except during nesting season when one may leave the breeding territory to feed while the other tends the nest).  Now I was really concerned.  We circled the area for half an hour trying to get a visual, but with no luck.  Finally we had to head north.  I sent a text message to my supervisors, Sara Zimorski of ICF, and Dr. Richard Urbanek of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, explaining what was going on.  Richard immediately called our tracking intern, Jess Thompson to check out the situation in Vermillion County.  Jess was only a few hours to the south, monitoring a group of seven Whooping Cranes (including 2009 DAR chick #38-09).

That afternoon, Jess called me.  She had found #17-02's body.  Although I had suspected the bird was dead, it was still hard to hear.  Not only have we lost one of our breeding pairs, we have lost our only SUCCESSFUL breeding pair.  Hopefully #11-02 will be able to find a new mate, but since we are still low on the female to male ratio, I don't know how soon that may be.

Update by Eva Szyszkoski, ICF Tracking Field Manager.