Guest writer Val Mann.
Kim and Val’s annual fall whooping crane photo trip to north central Saskatchewan occurred last week. The plan was to go the previous week, but the weather did not cooperate – major rain showers and thunderstorms made many grid roads impassable.
For the most part, the whooping cranes seen were quite far from the grid roads, usually in the middle of recently harvested fields. When we counted all the cranes in our photos and eliminated possible repeat sightings, we saw and photographed at least 53 individual whooping cranes. We saw more cranes but could not say they were new birds as the cranes tend to fly around the area.
For the most part, the weather cooperated; however, it was overcast and sprinkled a few times. At one point, a beautiful rainbow appeared by a small group of cranes – however, the picture does not do the rainbow justice. Although most of the cranes we saw were quite far in the distance, a highlight was when a small group of whooping cranes decided to relocate to be with a larger flock. The cranes took off by running towards our car. Wow!
FOTWW wants to thank Val for write up about their annual whooping crane photo trip. Val sent along a few photos of their annual whooping crane photo trip. We have posted them below and hope you enjoy them.
***** 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.
friendsofthewildwhoopers.org
