In a blog post on Tuesday, I noted that I would be leading a media tour to Necedah NWR and the International Crane Foundation on Thursday. It was one of many tours for attendees of this year's meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists, which I'm a member of. The meeting continues through Sunday here in Madison, just a few blocks from the state Capitol. (Former Vice President Al Gore spoke today. He congratulated President Obama on his Nobel Peace Prize and said that he expects a treaty to emerge from upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen.)
Back to our tour. We boarded a coach bus yesterday at 5 a.m., the brightly lit dome of the Capitol like a beacon in the still-dark morning. Approximately 35 newspaper, TV, radio, and web journalists, as well as freelancers, photographers, book authors, and public-information officers from federal agencies set their alarms awfully early to join our tour. It was the earliest departure ever in the 19 years of SEJ conferences.
One goal of our trip was to see Operation Migration's ultralight planes training this year's young Whooping Cranes at dawn over the marshes of Necedah. Alas, Mother Nature would not allow it. A trough of wind had parked itself over the refuge, keeping the planes grounded. Nonetheless, we had a fantastic day. We met lots of people who are involved in the effort to restore Whooping Cranes in the east. And we spent the afternoon at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, where we saw all 15 of the world's crane species and heard from legendary conservationist and ICF co-founder George Archibald.
I brought a camera along and recorded the day in photos. I hope you enjoy this sampling.
Joe Duff (left), lead pilot and CEO of Operation Migration, held an improptu press conference on Necedah's observation tower. He described, as only he can, the job the pilots have in taking care of young Whooping Cranes that so many other people from so many other agencies and organizations have played a part in producing. Rarely, he said, is it fun to fly with the birds. The responsibilty weighs heavily on the pilots. And the list of things to keep track of — GPS readings, speed, altitude, and making sure the birds stay with the plane but don't get too close — makes it difficult to have many reflective moments.
I should note, in case you're thinking about coming out to see the departure from Necedah, Joe said that it looks more likely to happen Sunday. The weather probably won't allow them to fly on Saturday, which was their plan when I wrote my earlier blog post. For the latest, check with Operation Migration's website.
The fellow in the blue shirt and baseball cap is Tom Henry, environmental writer and columnist for the Toledo Blade and my co-leader for the tour. Right of Tom in the green vest and wearing binoculars is John French, research manager at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. John flew out to join us for the day. He is one of the key people involved in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, which oversees the flock that migrates between Wisconsin and Florida, and he's on the International Whooping Crane Recovery Team, a multi-agency group that oversees the conservation of the entire species.
On the ride to Necedah, John discussed fascinating aspects of the biology of Whooping Cranes and described what the people at Patuxent do to manage the captive breeding flock.
The recent nest failures at Necedah, John said, may be attributable to black flies annoying the cranes, although no one knows for sure. Next spring, the partnership is planning to use a biological treatment on waterways at Necedah aimed at killing the larvae before they hatch into adult flies. They're hoping that will stop the birds from abandoning their nests. (Note: I goofed earlier when I said it was a chemical treatment.)
It was great to have John with us for the day, and I'm grateful that he could make the time to join us.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Richard Urbanek, the head of the team that tracks adult Whoopers in the eastern population, answers a question from Tom. He said that about 45 adult cranes are on the refuge now out of the total population of 77. Many others are nearby in what is known as the Core Reintroduction Area. Richard's latest report on where the cranes are is on OM's site.
Larry Wargowsky, manager of the Necedah NWR, is seen here as well, partially hidden by Tom. Larry told us a bit about how the refuge is managed for cranes, as well as for Red-headed Woodpeckers and endangered Karner blue butterflies. At right, in the baseball cap and glasses, is Randy Loftis, environment writer for the Dallas Morning News.
We stopped at the hangar where OM keeps its ultralights. Pilot Richard van Heuvelen was a good sport and donned the white crane costume to show us what the pilots wear when they're with the birds. (It's not like they walk around the hangar in this get-up all the time!) Richard is holding the crane puppet head that all the pilots carry when they're out walking with the birds.
Jess Thompson, who is part of the tracking crew at the refuge and an intern at the International Crane Foundation, shows us the telemetry gear she uses to track the birds. The gentleman in the red cap is Roger Archibald, photo editor of the SEJ's magazine. Two parentheticals about Roger: He once wrote an article for Birder's World in the 1990s about songbirds that land, exhausted, on boats off the east coast. And he says he is probably distantly related to George Archibald. They're both from Nova Scotia.
This was, without a doubt, the highlight of the morning at Necedah. As we stood on the highest point in the refuge, a sand dune with a gorgeous view, two adult Whoopers flew toward us and passed us, then landed next to the lake down the hill. And they aren't just any pair. They are 11-02 and 17-02, the parents of the only chick to be successfully hatched and fledged in the wild. That bird, now an adult female, is paired with a male from the 2003 ultralight flock.
As the two adults stood near the water, two other cranes, 2-04 and DAR46-07, flew in to the same space and landed. The territory belongs to them, and they chased away 11-02 and 17-02. (Thanks to Jess Thompson for correcting my error on this point; I had written earlier that 11-02 and 17-02 had won the showdown.) We watched as they gave their dropped-wing threat display and alarm calls to hold onto the territory. What a thrill!
At the Ron Sauey Memorial Library for Bird Conservation at the International Crane Foundation, we had lunch with George Archibald and Jim Hook, ICF president and CEO. George had just returned from a meeting of zoo and aquarium managers in St. Louis, and he told us that climate change was on everyone's mind at the meeting. The accredited zoos of the world receive 800 million visitors a year, he said, and zoo managers want to educate the public with exhibits about climate change.
For cranes, climate change is a major worry. As ice caps melt and sea levels rise, present-day Aransas NWR in Texas could be under several meters of water. Whether or how Whooping Cranes could adapt is anyone's guess.
In the near term, he's expecting another bad winter for Whoopers in Texas due to the ongoing drought. After losing a record 23 cranes at Aransas last winter, "we're likely in for another big loss this winter," he said.
In Asia, George said, climate change is a disaster in waiting for the Siberian Crane, the most wetland-dependent of all the cranes. Melting permafrost would release carbon dioxide and methane, forever altering the ecology of the crane's wetlands. Conversely, in Tibet, the Black-necked Crane has increased from 7,000 birds in 1990 to 11,000 birds today. The size of wetlands on the high-elevation Tibetan Plateau has increased, which has likely added more habitat for the birds.
We could have sat and listened to George all day, but we were also at ICF for a tour. Kim Boardman, an aviculturist with the direct autumn release project for Whoopers, took us to the custom-built facility where the chicks are reared in isolation before being taken to Necedah. Here she shows us the hood that crane keepers wear when they're with the chicks. One chick that had both white and juvenal cinnamon feathers was at the facility. We could see her and a captive adult on a video monitor. She was held back from the migration project for her high genetic value.
We also visited Crane City, a large part of the ICF campus that is off-limits to the public. It's protected by a large automated gate, and for bio-security reasons, we had to dip the soles of our shoes into a bleach solution before walking in. Crane City houses captive cranes of many species. They're kept in large fenced open-air pens that are top-netted. Some birds are in pens by themselves while others are kept in twos.
This is Rattler, the oldest Whooping Crane ever to live in captivity. This past June, he turned 41. He lives with Reva, a 33-year-old female. "She still produces eggs," said aviculturist Sara Zimorski, "but his semen quality is kaput." (When you take care of cranes, you literally know everything about them!)
"We have a 40-year-old Whooping Crane who still produces offspring," she added. "So it's not strictly an age thing, it's just a Rattler thing." The skin on his head is quite pale compared with most Whoopers, and Sara said that he has a dermatitis condition that affects his head color. "It doesn't really affect him in any way, other than he just looks old and pale."
This is a Siberian Crane kept at Crane City. To say I was lucky to be in the right place just as it twisted its head for the perfect profile shot is an understatement!
Next we toured the public exhibits of cranes. ICF opened an extraordinary exhibit on the cranes of Africa this past summer. If you haven't seen it, get yourself to Baraboo. It's fantastic. This pair of Blue Cranes stayed back and preened near the wall of their enclosure. My photos were fair-to-middlin' until one bird lifted and flapped its huge wings. This species has long tertial feathers that dangle nearly to the ground, and you can see them here.
This Grey Crowned Crane put on quite a show. She is imprinted on humans and, according to our guide Rob Carr, she can recognize the difference between men and women. She shows threat displays toward women and courting displays toward men. Here I think she's showing me how cute her feathers are.
Finally, we saw the two Whooping Cranes that are in their own exhibit. They have a large wetland and a hilly grassy area all to themselves. All of the cranes at ICF eat a special food made especially for cranes. But Rob said that they'll eat anything. He has seen the birds in this exhibit eat snakes, and one time, when he brought a group of second-graders in, one of the birds killed and ate a Red-winged Blackbird that had nested in the reeds, and then went back and gobbled up the chicks in the nest. The kids and their teacher couldn't believe what they had seen.
Here is the same bird pictured above, just a few minutes later, reaching under a wing to preen. Wow!
Aldo Leopold, the great conservationist from Wisconsin, was referring to Sandhill Cranes, but I'd like to think he could have had any species in mind when we said that cranes are "no mere bird." How true. --M.M.
P.S., I want to thank all of the people named above for taking time to meet with our tour. Thanks also to Dan Peterson, a biologist at Necedah who took us to the sand dune where we saw the four adult Whoopers. And thanks to Marianne Wellington, lead aviculturist on the direct autumn release project. She described how the project works and shared details about working up-close with the birds.
Attendees have had nothing but good things to say about the day. I think one of the key reasons for the enthusiasm is that all of the speakers are deeply devoted to cranes. One person who embodies that commitment to cranes and who I have not yet mentioned is Joan Garland. Joan is the education outreach coordinator at ICF, and I owe her a great deal of gratitude for the success of our tour. She coordinated a lot of moving parts behind the scenes to keep the day running smoothly. Thank you, Joan!