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More Nests Discovered! April 28, 2008
Whooper
Reintroduction Updates
Current Trip: Spring 2008 Eastern Whooping Crane Migration Entry April 28 More Nests Discovered! April 28, 2008 Last Wednesday April 23, was a highlight of my life. From 9:00 a.m. through noon, I had the back seat of a small Cessna aircraft, while biologist Sara Zimorski and pilot Mike Frakes navigated the Windway Corporation plane low over the wetlands of Wisconsin's central sand counties searching for the nests of Whooping Cranes. We spotted nine nests with an adult crane incubating at each nest. Another nest easily seen from a road was not surveyed. So, on that auspicious day and still today, there are 10 pairs of Whooping Cranes incubating their eggs in the wilds of central Wisconsin. Hurray! And a special thanks to all members of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership and the thousands of crane enthusiasts who provided financial support to help make it happen. The sand country is pear-shaped measuring about 60 miles across a wide top roughly between Black River Falls in the west and Wisconsin Rapids in the east. Then it tapers south for another 60 miles south to the Wisconsin Dells. It includes major portions of five counties and outlines the bottom of long-disappeared, Glacial Lake Wisconsin. During the settlement of central Wisconsin in the mid-1800s most of the sand country was farmed. But the soils were poor, the farms failed, and eventually the federal and state governments secured large holdings for conservation; Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Wood County State Wildlife Area, Sandhill State Wildlife Area, and the Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area. This core wilderness area is bordered in many places by cranberry farms. Ten acres of wetland are needed to support the irrigation of one acre of cranberries. Consequently, the cranberry farms are sanctuary for a plethora of wildlife. The availability of such vast expanses of wetland habitat was a key factor in 1999 when the Whooping Crane Recovery Team selected the sandy country of Wisconsin as the core area for starting a new migratory population of Whooping Cranes in eastern North America. Enormous wetlands dwarf the large and glistening white Whooping Cranes. From the ground the cranes are often impossible to see if the open wetland is interrupted, as they often are, by rises, bushes and forests. Since his return on April 9 from monitoring the migration of these cranes from their wintering grounds in Florida, crane biologist Dr. Richard Urbanek has been searching for nests along with ICF tracking staff Colleen Wisinski, Eva Szyszkoski, and Anna Fasoli. He observed one from a dike inside the Necedah NWR, and had strong suspicions that several other pairs were breeding. Nests are best seen from the air. He was able to verify locations of five more nests from an approved rented plane on April 14. Such flights are rare because Richard is an employee of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. As such he is only allowed to fly with DOI Office of Aircraft Services approved planes and pilots - a kind akin in the aviation world to the rarity of Whooping Cranes in the world of birds. Flight restrictions usually leave Richard grounded. That's why there was room for me in the back seat. The known nests were easily spotted because Richard told us where they were. Then we headed into virgin territory. Needless to say we were thrilled to spot each small white dot shining up from the brown marshes. Each nest was surrounded by a ring of open water created in part by the cranes. The cranes toss aquatic vegetation in the direction of the nest to create the low platform structure on which they lay their two eggs. Once we spotted three cranes. On closer examination it was obvious that one was a territorial bird exhibiting threat postures to the other cranes to suggest they leave. Often we spotted breeding pairs of the enormous and white Trumpeters Swans, a species that has also been reintroduced into the Midwest in recent years. The East Rynearson wetland of Necedah NWR is the area in which the captive-produced cranes have been fledged since releases began in 2001. It was here that the first pair nested and fledged a chick in 2006. Consequently, it was not surprising that nine of the 10 nests are within the borders of Necedah. We were surprised that Whooping Cranes were not nesting on the vast state wildlife areas that border the northern edge of Necedah. However, just northeast of the state lands near Glacial Lake Cranberry Farm, we spotted a nest. West of Necedah on the Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area, we were saddened to spot an injured Whooping Crane with its mate standing nearby. The female had unsuccessfully nested in both 2006 and 2007, in the latter year with the current male. A ground visit was made to the territory later in the day, and the female was found with a severe limp in the right leg but otherwise appeared ok. One broken egg was found in the water near their nest, which had been observed empty during the previous aerial survey on April 14. We ended the flight searching private lands along the eastern edge of the sandy country where a female from the Class of 2001 was reported to be in the company of a male. The female carries an inactive radio-transmitter, but the male is a younger bird and his radio still works. We found the male foraging along the edge of a marsh, but the female was not spotted. We hope she is nesting nearby. But there is always the possibility that her relationship with that male ended and that this lone lady returned to her favorite haunts in eastern Wisconsin's Horicon marsh. A ground survey will begin where the male was observed to listen for Unison Calls - a duet that confirms a pair exists and perhaps leads to yet another nest. A special thanks is extended to Terry and Mary Kohler through whose generosity, the Windway Corporation provides so many crane flights. Update by Dr. George Archibald, ICF Co-founder This email is generated by the International Crane Foundation located at E11376 Shady Lane Road, Baraboo, WI. 53913. Visit our website  Previous Entry | Next Entry  Back to List
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