Wood Buffalo National Park Archives - Page 3 of 6

Where are the wild Whooping Cranes and what are they doing?

March 10, 2017June 18, 2016 by Admin

by Chester McConnell, Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Where are the Wild Whooping Cranes?

Wild Whooping Cranes are now on Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada. They arrived there during late April and May after migrating 2,500 miles from Aransas Refuge on the Texas coast. Each nesting pair located their nesting site which is normally in the same general area as past years. Park records show that several pairs have nested in the same areas for 22 consecutive years. Soon after their arrival on their nesting grounds, they build their nest. Nesting surveys completed to-date indicates that 78 Whooping Crane nests have been observed.

Their nesting territories vary in size but average about 1,500 acres. Whooping Cranes guard their territories and nesting neighbors normally locate their nest at least one-half mile away. Nests are normally constructed in shallow water. Vegetation from the local area is used to construct nest.

Wild Whooping Cranes nesting information

Eggs are usually laid in late April to mid-May. Normally two eggs are laid but occasionally only one and rarely three have been observed in nests. Incubation begins when the first egg is laid. Incubation occurs for about 30 days. Because incubation starts when the first egg is laid, the first chick hatched is about two days older than the second hatched. This difference in age is substantial and creates problem for the younger chick. It is weaker than the older chick and has difficulty keeping up as the adults move around searching for food. The younger chick often dies due to its weakness. Records indicate that only about 10% to 15% of the second chicks hatched survive. Importantly, the second egg plays an important role in providing insurance that at least one chick survives.

From the time Whoopers begin egg laying until their chicks are a few months old, the family groups remain in their breeding territory. They feed there and don’t move long distances until after their chicks fledge.

Friends of the Wild Whoopers will publish an update of the ongoing Whooping Crane chick reproduction and related activities soon.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

Whooping Cranes Near Regina, SK Canada

March 10, 2017April 16, 2016 by Admin

Migrating Whooping Cranes spotted near Regina

On Thursday, April 14, 2016, Fran Kerbs, of Regina SK Canada, and her friend received a tip about two Whooping Cranes being spotted northwest of Regina, SK Canada. Excited by the tip, they headed out to catch them before they continued on in their migration to Wood Buffalo National Park. Staying quite a distance away to observe them, Fran was able to get three short videos of them in the field foraging, bugling, and finally taking flight.

About the videos

Fran told Friends to the Wild Whoopers, (FOTWW), “the first video has their call (in the key of B), and we were happy to be downwind of them to hear them. The middle video is a good one to show how these new “superzoom” cameras can make the whooping cranes appear close when they were actually approx 1.5 miles away.” As you can see in the third video, the whooping cranes decided it was time for them to continue on their northern migration.

Fran sent us the YouTube links to her videos with permission to combine them into one and share it with everyone. FOTWW thanks Fran for the video and we hope you enjoy the whooping cranes near Regina. We certainly did! Thank you, Fran!

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

Whooping Crane Nesting Grounds in Winter

March 10, 2017March 26, 2016 by Admin

The only wild Whooping Crane population on earth is currently in the process of migrating northward from Aransas Wildlife Refuge, Texas to Wood Buffalo National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada. Wood Buffalo is their only nesting area. While we wait for the USFWS Southwest Region statisticians to analyze and release their final estimate of the December aerial survey, Friends Of The Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) thought we would provide you with something a little different.

Every year, in July, Parks Canada and Canadian Wildlife Service conducts two aerial surveys over the Whooping Crane nesting grounds. They provide FOTWW with the results of the nests count in June and later in August, the fledgling count. Normally we get a bonus of some photos of the beautiful nesting grounds.

Winter Conditions

What many don’t know is that Parks Canada also does an Aerial Bison Survey within Wood Buffalo National Park. John McKinnon, Parks Canada participated in this year’s survey, on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. During the Bison Survey, the flight crossed over Whooping Crane nesting grounds. McKinnon made some photos and sent FOTWW a couple of the nesting grounds along with an update on the conditions at the park.

McKinnon reports, “We were out conducting our Aerial Bison Survey at the Park last week and I took a few photos of the Sass Nesting Area and the Klewi Nesting Area on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.”

According to McKinnon, “Things should be changing fairly quickly up here (i.e. melting)… as the weather forecast is for positive temperatures in the upcoming week ahead. We have been having a stretch of cold nights, -20°C, (-4°F), -ish, and daytime temps of -5°C, to -8°C, (28°F to 17°F).”

McKinnon explained, ”We have lots of snow this year, which should bode well for the Whooper’s Habitat. The snow pack is more than we have had the last couple of years; kind of back to being like “normal”.”

Looking forward

After the drought on the nesting area last summer, John’s report sounds promising and we hope that once the snow pack melts, that conditions will be ideal and that the number of nests and fledglings will be higher than it was during last year’s drought.

Some of the nesting areas may still be frozen when the wild Whoopers arrive on Wood Buffalo. Yet the wild cranes have faced these conditions in previous years and have learned to live with them.

John sent us a couple of photos that he took while flying over the Whooping Crane nesting grounds. Hope you find them interesting.

The landscape on the nesting grounds is beautiful and serene in the winter, but as we move forward into spring and summer, the landscape is born again, nests will be built, and chicks hatched. Knowing what lies ahead for the wild Whooping Crane population and WBNP, we can be assured that we will once again see images such as those below.

This photo shows the same nesting area in spring-summer as the snow and ice covered photos above.

This photo shows what we have to look forward to this spring-summer.

Whooping crane nesting grounds./Wood Buffalo National Park. — Two adults and one juvenile whooping crane. Photo: John McKinnon / ©Parks Canada /Wood Buffalo National Park.

FOTWW thanks John McKinnon for sending up the latest conditions on Wood Buffalo National Park and the beautiful photos of its landscape.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

Whooping Cranes stopover habitats facing more threats

March 10, 2017January 31, 2016 by Admin

by Chester McConnell, Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Whooping Cranes “stopover habitats” are facing more threats on Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, in Kansas. The refuge is experiencing conflicts with neighboring farmers who want to use more water from a diminishing supply.

Stopover habitats are used during the Whoopers two annual 2,500 mile migrations between Wood Buffalo, Canada nesting grounds and Aransas Refuge, Texas winter habitats. Quivira is one of the more important stopover areas along the migration corridor. Other stopover areas are also facing problems due to changing farming practices and developments of all kinds.

Unfortunately irrigation needs on private farms is problematic to Quivira Refuge. Quivira covers 22,135 acres, largely in Stafford County. About 6,000 acres is wetlands.

Whooping Cranes on Qvivira NWR. USFWS Photo

Wetlands a haven for whooping cranes and other migratory birds

Thousands of shorebirds and waterfowl migrating through Quivira each season count on reprieve and water at the salt marshes. Mike Oldham, Quivira’s manager estimates a million birds come through the area in the fall and winter including 61 endangered whooping cranes that stopped over there last fall. Quivira officials want to make sure it remains like that.

“Having the available wetlands is a haven to migratory birds, and timing is everything,” said Mike Oldham. “Water depth is a big deal, too – especially in the spring for shorebirds with short legs that need shallower water.” Oldham added.

Regrettably a decades-long struggle continues between providing enough water for the national wildlife refuge and the needs of private land irrigators who surround it.

After years of attempting to work with stakeholders to find solutions, the service in April 2013 filed impairment with the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1957 water right is senior to roughly 95 percent of the basin’s water users. Quivira’s manager Oldham claims, “We’re not receiving the water based on the seasonal needs of wildlife and habitat.” If there is not ample water thousands of migratory birds could be adversely affected including endangered Whooping Cranes

Stopover habitats are essential to Whooping Cranes

Friends of the Wild Whoopers and Gulf Cost Bird Observatory (FOTWW – GCBO) are continuing efforts to identify these threats and help resolve them. Stopover habitats are essential to Whooping Cranes so they can rest and feed during their two annual 2,500 mile migrations. The FOTWW-GCBO team contends that it is imperative that we provide more help to the only wild Whooping Cranes population remaining on earth.

Our FOTWW – GCBO team has recently been focusing efforts on identifying potential “stopover habitats” on military bases within the 2,500 migration corridor. To-date most military base natural managers that we have met with have been very cooperative and a number of important Whooping Crane habitats are slated for improvements. To read more about our stopover habitat project, click here.

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org