A couple weeks ago, Lynne Morck was on a drive about enjoying the scenery that Alberta has. She was west on Innisfail, Alberta, Canada and came upon one lone Whooping Crane enjoying some wetlands. Lynne said that this was the first time she has encountered whooping cranes. Imagine her excitement. The lone crane spent some time foraging in the shallow waters and after a time decided to take flight and go elsewhere.
At first Lynne didn’t believe that she had actually encountered a whooping crane in the wild. However, once arriving home and studying her photos she was able to verify her unique discovery. She sent us the photos of her find and given up permission to share them with you. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we did!
Friends of the Wild Whoopers, (FOTWW) thanks Lynne for sharing her experience and photos with us.
Parks Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service have completed their joint whooping crane fledgling surveys on Wood Buffalo National Park and surrounding area. A total of 37 fledged chicks from 36 sets of parents were observed. An increase from last year’s 24 fledglings. It appears that conditions at the park were better than last year. May rainfall was only 84% of normal, however, in June rainfall was 141% above normal, with most (22mm) of that falling on June 2 just as some of the chicks were hatching.
The fledgling survey is done in between the end of July and mid-August. Fledglings are birds that have reached an age where they can fly. The technique for this survey is very similar to the breeding pair survey. The nest locations are known so that the staff can fly directly to the nest. If the Whooping Cranes have not been successful in raising a chick they may still be in their territory or they could be kilometers away. If a pair does have a chick, they are generally found fairly close to their nest.
Both the Nest and the Fledgling Surveys are part of the world-class restoration plan that has made the endangered Whooping Crane an international success story and symbol of species recovery and conservation. By counting the number of fledgling chicks, Parks Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and others gain important insights into the health of the world’s last remaining natural nesting flock of Whooping Cranes that contribute greatly to our ongoing stewardship of these magnificent birds.
WBNP and nearby areas provide the last natural nesting habitat for the endangered Whooping Cranes. The birds are hatched in and near WBNP each spring. After they fledge they migrate 2,500 miles to their winter habitat on, or near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast. During their 2,500 mile migration they stopover 20 to 30 times to rest, forage for food and roost during the nights. Then, the following April the total population returns to WBNP to repeat the reproduction cycle again.
The video below, sent to FOTWW by Parks Canada is of one of the 2019 fledglings.
FOTWW thanks all those involved in this recent survey and a thank you to Parks Canada for sending us photos and short video for everyone to enjoy.
The numbers are in. This August, 24 whooping crane fledglings were counted in and around Wood Buffalo National Park.
Rhona Kindopp, manager of resource conservation with Parks Canada in Fort Smith, said while two dozen fledglings is a low number, “it’s still within the natural range of variation that we would expect from this species.”
Kindopp continued: “In some migratory bird species, productivity is influenced greatly by weather. This spring, in early June, we saw a significant increase in the amount of rain that we received locally.”
Kindopp stressed the weather may be just one contributing factor. “Another factor could have been local predation cycles. In other words, there may have been a greater number of predators in the area than in previous years,” she said.
Breeding pair surveys are done in mid to late May over 4-5 days with a crew of 2-3 made up of Parks Canada staff and Canadian Wildlife Service biologists. Breeding pairs normally use the same territory each year to build their nest and raise their chicks. Knowing where the cranes nest helps make locating the adults and juveniles a bit more successful. Following further examination of the data, this year there were 87 nests in and around Wood Buffalo National Park. Up one from the 86 nests that were originally reported in May.
The fledgling survey is done in between the end of July and mid-August. Fledglings are birds that have reached an age where they can fly. The technique for this survey is very similar to the breeding pair survey. The nest locations are known so that the staff can fly directly to the nest. If the Whooping Cranes have not been successful in raising a chick they may still be in their territory or they could be kilometers away. If a pair does have a chick, they are generally found fairly close to their nest.
Importance of surveys
Both the Nest and the Fledgling Surveys are part of the world-class restoration plan that has made the endangered Whooping Crane an international success story and symbol of species recovery and conservation. By counting the number of fledgling chicks, Parks Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and others gain important insights into the health of the world’s last remaining natural nesting flock of Whooping Cranes that contribute greatly to our ongoing stewardship of these magnificent birds.
WBNP and nearby areas provide the last natural nesting habitat for the endangered Whooping Cranes. The birds are hatched in and near WBNP each spring. After they fledge they migrate 2,500 miles to their winter habitat on, or near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast. During their 2,500 mile migration they stopover 20 to 30 times to rest, forage for food and roost during the nights. Then, the following April the total population returns to WBNP to repeat the reproduction cycle again.
“Friends of the Wild Whoopers has read the following article about Wood Buffalo National Park and it is disturbing. Over the past couple of years we have read other stories claiming serious environmental problems on or near Wood Buffalo. We have been advised by Canadian officials that these problems do not affect the endangered Whooping Crane nesting area. Now we are hearing otherwise. We will continue to monitor the situation and seek the truth.
The environmental deterioration described in the following reports reminds me of the tremendous problems that have been caused over many years to the Mississippi River ecosystem by United States government agencies.
Chester McConnell President
Friends of the Wild Whoopers”
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The 561-page report on Wood Buffalo National Park says industry, dams, climate change and natural cycles are sucking the watery lifeblood from the vast delta of northeastern Alberta’s Peace and Athabasca rivers.
