|
By late October/early November #’s 4, 14, and 18-08 were closely associated with #’s 24, 27, 28, & 30-08 in Dodge County, Wisconsin after having moved from where they’d spent most of the summer and early fall. This group of 7 was a mix of birds who had spent the winter at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and birds who’d spent the winter at Chassahowitzka NWR. This group remained together in Dodge County through the last check on December 4. None of these birds were seen or heard again until the evening of December 12 when #28-08 turned up by himself at the Hiwassee state refuge in Tennessee. Hiwassee is a great place for cranes and a popular stop over and wintering area for thousands of Sandhills and a number of our Whooping Cranes, but we were surprised #28-08 was there. He was led south on the new, more westerly ultralight route the previous fall and therefore had never been to Hiwassee before. Also he was there by himself, having separated from the other 6 birds he’d been with for more than 2 months. We were glad to know where he was, but a bit puzzled about how and why he got there and also curious where the remaining 6 birds were. We wouldn’t get our answer for almost another month. On January 8, as I was getting ready to head out to the Chassahowitzka NWR pen site, Bob Quarles from the Chassahowitzka refuge staff called me and then Richard Urbanek (USFWS) since I was on the phone and didn’t answer. Bob had gone out to the pen ahead of me to do some more work, and when he and volunteer Joe arrived they found 6 Whooping Cranes just outside the pen. We only had one group of 6 birds missing, so Richard and I, in consultation with Eva Szyszkoski (ICF) on the phone, quickly figured these birds had to be the missing 6 from Dodge County. Bob and Joe put their work on hold and remained inside the blind so the birds wouldn’t be scared off before we got out there to identify them. Sure enough, radio signals confirmed our suspicions as soon as Richard and I arrived at the pen with telemetry equipment. Bob and Joe headed back to the shop, not too sad to put off their work since it was cold and rainy, while Richard and I stayed to observe the birds a little bit longer. The water was higher than the day before, and a small depression just outside the pen was the focus of the birds’ attention. Although we couldn’t see what they were eating, they were clearly finding lots of good things to eat – probably small fiddler crabs and snails. The Chassahowitzka and St. Marks NWR birds in the group of 7 had been together so long we didn’t initially remember who was who until we double-checked our records. The group of 6 consisted of all 5 surviving Chassahowitzka NWR birds from last year and one bird from St. Marks NWR. We expect the group to stay for a day or two and then move elsewhere, which is what typically happens when birds from the previous year complete their first unassisted migration. We were thrilled to see all of the birds safely in Florida, having perfectly completed their migration to Chassahowitzka NWR!
As mentioned above #28-08 (St. Marks NWR) is currently at Hiwassee in Tennessee, but it remains to be seen if he’ll stay there for the winter or continue on to Florida. One other 2008 bird has also completed his migration to Florida--#29-08, a St. Marks NWR bird, arrived in Florida by December 16 with #12-07. They were seen together in Alachua County, Florida but #12-07 left 5 days later while #29-08 remained with the Sandhills in this area.
Three other yearlings (St. Marks NWR) in two separate groups are currently missing and are presumably still en route somewhere. We’ll be excited when they’re found and curious where they’ll be found since none of the yearlings have returned to St. Marks NWR yet. Stay tuned. Update and photos by Sara Zimorski, ICF Aviculturist/WCEP Tracking and Winter Management Co-chair. 
|
