Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Archives - Page 3 of 31

Fall 2020 Whooping Crane migration in full swing

October 5, 2020 by Admin

Migration Underway

Migration of the only natural wild population of whooping cranes is underway. The Whooping Crane migration from Wood Buffalo to Aransas NWR is about 2,500 miles in length and can take as many as 50 days to complete. The flock is expected to migrate through Nebraska, North Dakota and other states along the Central Flyway over the next several weeks. The Wildlife Fish and Game and Parks agencies along the flyway encourage the public to report any whooping crane sightings.

If you should observe a whooping crane as they migrate along the Central Flyway, please report them to the proper agencies. We have compiled a list of agencies and contact information below. If you need help with identification, please click on our Whooper Identification page.

Canadian reports

Any sightings of Whooping Cranes in Canada:
Whooping Crane Hotline is 306-975-5595. That will get you to Wildlife Biologist John Conkin. Leave a detailed message for a callback.

Montana reports

Allison Begley
MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks
1420 East Sixth Avenue
Helena, MT 59620
abegley@mt.gov
(406) 444-3370

Jim Hansen
MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks
2300 Lake Elmo Drive
Billings, MT 59105
jihansen@mt.gov
(406) 247-2957

North Dakota

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, (701-848-2466)
Audubon, (701-442-5474)
National wildlife refuges
North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, (701-328-6300) or to local game wardens

South Dakota

Eileen Dowd Stukel; eileen.dowdstukel@state.sd.us; (605-773-4229)
Casey Heimerl; (605-773-4345)
Natalie Gates; Natalie_Gates@fws.gov; (605-224-8793), ext. 227
Jay Peterson; Jay_Peterson@fws.gov; (605-885-6320), ext. 213

Nebraska

Nebraska Game and Parks (402-471-0641)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (308-379-5562)
The Crane Trust’s Whooper Watch hotline (888-399-2824)
Emails may be submitted to joel.jorgensen@nebraska.gov

Kansas

Jason Wagner
jason.wagner@ks.gov
(620-793-3066)

Ed Miller
ed.miller@ks.gov
(620-331-6820)

Whooping Crane sightings at or near Quivira NWR should be reported to:
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
620-486-2393
They can also be reported to this email: quivira@fws.gov

Oklahoma

Sightings can be logged online here

Matt Fullerton
Endangered Species Biologist
(580-571-5820)

Mark Howery
Wildlife Diversity Biologist
(405-990-7259)

Texas

Texas Whooper Watch also has a project in I-Naturalist that is now fully functional. You can find it here. You can report sightings directly in I-Naturalist via your Smart Phone. This allows you to easily provide photo verification and your location.

If you are not a smart phone app user, you can still report via email: whoopingcranes@tpwd.state.tx.us or phone: (512-389-999). Please note that our primary interest is in reports from outside the core wintering range.

Do not disturb and why reporting is important

Should you see a whooping crane during migration, please do not get close or disturb it. Keep your distance and make a note of date, time, location, and what the whooping crane is doing. If the whooping crane is wearing bands or a transmitter, please note the color(s) and what leg(s) the bands are on.

You may wonder why the wild life agencies are asking for these sightings to be reported. The reports are very helpful in gathering data and information on when and where the whooping cranes stopover, what type of habitat they are choosing, and how many there are.

With just over 500 wild whooping cranes migrating along the Central Flyway, odds are low of seeing a wild whooping crane. However, FOTWW hopes that someone reading this article will be one of the lucky few. If you are, please report your sighting so that these agencies and other conservation groups, including FOTWW can continue helping these magnificent cranes.

***** 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

Whooping Crane “stopover habitats” on Lake Sharpe, South Dakota

July 25, 2020 by Admin

By Pam Bates, FOTWW

Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) is continuing to work on its joint Whooping Crane “stopover habitat” with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The project involves the 7 state migration corridor within in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. FOTWW has completed its evaluation of Lake Sharpe properties in South Dakota and our Wildlife Biologist Chester McConnell provided a summary of their findings and recommendations.

McConnell emphasized that FOTWW appreciated USACE personnel who accompanied us on our field evaluation. “They were well informed about the lake’s abundant habitats and management needs. So, together, we successfully identified many stopover habitats that needed only minor management” explained McConnell.”

Habitat threats continue

Today Whooping Cranes are facing continuing threats to their habitats. During their two 2,500 miles migration from their Canadian nesting habitats and their winter habitats on the Texas coast they must stop 15 to 30 times to rest and feed. Secure stopover habitats are needed throughout the migration corridor approximately every 25 miles. And more secure wintering habitats are needed along the Texas coast near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Currently about half of the population winters off the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where they are not as safe. Continuous development along the coast is taking a serious toll on habitat.

FOTWW believes that the wild Whooping Cranes in the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population are capable of taking care of themselves with two exceptions. They need (1) humans to protect their habitats and (2) humans to stop shooting them. We firmly believe that the USACE can do much to protect and manage many “stopover habitats” within the migration corridor wetland habitats while other areas could be enhanced with minor, low cost work.

Working partnership

The USACE and FOTWW operate under a Memorandum of Understanding that allows FOTWW to focus on Whooping Crane habitat assessment and management recommendations on lands under USACE jurisdiction. We first need to determine if any suitable areas could be managed, or appropriately developed, to provide stopover habitats for Whooping Cranes. The next step would be to work to encourage appropriate management.

McConnell explained that “we have learned that USACE lakes within the 7 state migration corridor are very valuable to migrating Whooping Cranes. And we believe they are likely to become even more important to Whooping Cranes in the near future because of their locations and quality of “stopover habitats”. Lake Sharpe and others that are located in the Whooping Crane migration corridor can be especially valuable. As the crane population increases the migration corridor may also expand in width.

Lake Sharpe

Lake Sharpe is just one of the 35 USACE lakes that FOTWW has evaluated. We are aware that Whooping Cranes have visited Lake Sharpe and we expect that to continue and increase. United States Geological Survey personnel used location data acquired from 58 unique individuals fitted with platform transmitting terminals that collected global position system locations. Radio-tagged birds provided 2,158 stopover sites over 10 migrations and 5 years (2010–14) using individual Whooping Cranes. Whooping Cranes were also observed in the vicinity of Lake Sharpe property several times.

**Figure 1. Deer and other wildlife species often use the same habitats as Whooping Cranes.**

McConnell explained that during migration Whooping Cranes often stop over on private lands, wildlife areas, lakes and some military bases. However, many private lands are being more intensively managed and face various forms of development. And some wetlands are becoming dryer due to global warming. FOTWW contends that lands and waters on USACE, military bases and Indian Reservations within the migration corridor can provide much needed relief. Some of these lands can be developed and/or managed to provide more stopover habitats for endangered Whooping Cranes. Importantly, habitats for the cranes also benefit many other species of wildlife and fish. So Whooping Cranes are compatible with other wildlife species using the same habitats.

Costs

The most expensive part of establishing or improving habitat is land cost. If projects can be accomplished on government lands and Indian Reservations, the cost would be relatively minimal. Importantly any habitat projects deemed to be incompatible with the mission of the agencies involved would not be considered by FOTWW.

FOTWW has completed habitat evaluations on 32 military facilities, 8 Indian Reservations and 35 USACE lakes within the wild Whooping Crane migration corridor. Most of these properties currently have some suitable stopover habitats but there is much more potential explained McConnell.

A look at Lake Sharpe

The following photos are a sample of the various examples of the Whooping Crane “stopover habitats” that we observed on Lake Sharpe.

Figure 3. Good Soldier Creek. Focus on the water along the edge of the land area. The light color area is shallow water. Such areas are good foraging sites for the Whoopers. These areas are also prime roosting areas for Whooping Cranes. They like shallow water about 2 inches to 10 inches in depth to roost in. The 5 feet tall Whooping Cranes can defend themselves against predators in shallow water.

Figure 5. Medicine Creek. The area along the shore and 300 feet back is an excellent location for Whooping Cranes to land. Caution is needed however because of the fence (red marker) which could cause injure or kill Whooping Cranes that may crash into it during low flight. A management project should remove the fence or relocate it an additional 300 feet back from the water edge. Otherwise this location is excellent as a “stopover site” for the cranes.

***** 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

Friends of the Wild Whoopers and Corps of Engineers visit Lewis and Clark Lake

June 21, 2020 by Admin

Friends of the Wild Whoopers and Corps of Engineers visit to Lewis and Clark Lake to evaluate potential Whooping Crane “stopover habitats”

By Chester McConnell, FOTWW

After receiving dozens of messages from concerned members, Friends of the Wild Whoopers decided to let you know all is OK. The virus has not infected any of our staff. Importantly, however, the virus has caused us to discontinue travel while there is a possibility of us being infected. When we are in the field, we travel an average of 1,500 miles each trip. During this travel we eat in many different restaurants, sleep in different motels each night and meet with about two dozen people. This type of living causes one to take a chance of becoming infected. So we have made the decision to halt our Whooping Crane “stopover habitat” project until conditions have improved. One good factor in this is that we are catching up on administrative responsibilities.

So, I also plan to let you know some details about our most recent joint Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) – Corps of Engineers (COE) “stopover habitat” project that some members have requested. I will begin with some details about our last field trip to Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. During this trip we visited seven COE lakes, met with the staffs of each lake and made long field trips to evaluate potential Whooping Crane “stopover habitats”. We examined some excellent habitats and many sites that could be improved and/or protected with a minimal amount of time and sound management.

The seven lakes we visited on this trip are Lewis and Clark Lake (NE/SD), Lake Francis Case (SD), Lake Sharpe (SD). Oahe Lake (SD/ND), Lake Sakakawea (ND), Fort Peck Lake (MO) and Pipestem Lake (ND). I will start by telling you about our trip to Lewis and Clark Lake. In the near future I plan to write a summary about the other six CO lakes we visited.

Whooping Cranes are facing continuing threats to their habitats that FOTWW is hard at work attempting to bring to a halt. During their two 2,500 miles migration each year the whoopers must stop 15 to 30 times to rest and feed. Secure stopover habitats are needed throughout the migration corridor approximately every 25 miles. And more secure wintering habitats are needed along the Texas coast near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Currently about half of the population winters off the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where they are not as safe. Continuous development along the coast is taking a serious toll on habitat.

FOTWW believes that the wild Whooping Cranes in the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population are capable of taking care of themselves with two exceptions. They need (1) humans to protect their habitats and (2) humans to stop shooting them. We firmly believe that the COE can do much to help protect and manage many “stopover habitats” on their lakes within the migration corridor.

Whooping Cranes make two 2,500 miles migrations each year. They migrate to and from their winter habitats on the Texas coast to their nesting habitats in northern Canada. During migration Whooping Cranes often stop over on private lands, wildlife areas, lakes, Indian Reservations and some military bases. However, many private lands are being more intensively managed and face various forms of development. And some wetlands are becoming dryer due to global warming.

FOTWW contends that lands and waters on COE lakes, military bases and Indian Reservations within the migration corridor can provide much needed relief. Some of these lands can be developed and/or managed to provide more stopover habitats for endangered Whooping Cranes. Importantly, habitats for the cranes also benefit many other species of wildlife and fish. Likewise, Whooping Cranes are compatible with other wildlife species using the same habitats (Figure 1).

Lewis and Clark Lake — **Figure 1. Deer and other wildlife species often use the same habitats as Whooping Cranes.**

FOTWW has completed habitat evaluations on 32 military facilities, 8 Indian Reservations and 35 COE lakes within the wild Whooping Crane migration corridor. Some of these properties currently have suitable stopover wetland habitats while other areas could be enhanced with minor work.

The COE and FOTWW Memorandum of Understanding allows us to focus on Whooping Crane habitat assessment and management recommendations on lands under the COE’s jurisdiction. We have been determining if any suitable areas could be managed, or appropriately developed to provide stopover habitats for Whooping Cranes. The next step would be to work to encourage appropriate management.

COE lakes within the 7 states migration corridor are likely to become even more important to Whooping Cranes in the near future because of their locations and quality of “stopover habitat”. Lewis and Clark Lake and others that are located in the Whooping Crane migration corridor can be especially valuable. As the crane population increases the migration corridor may also expand in width.

Lewis and Clark Lake is just one of the 35 USACE lakes that FOTWW has evaluated. It is one of the six COE lakes developed on the Missouri River that is within the center of the Whooping Crane migration corridor. Many other migratory bird species and millions of individual use the same migration corridor.

Whooping Cranes normally migrate over or near Lewis and Clark Lake during April – May (northward migration) and fall during October – November (southward migration). They normally stopover to rest late in the afternoon and depart early to mid-morning the following day.

Mostly, during migration, they stopover on lakes, natural wetlands and small ponds on private farms just to rest overnight. Like humans on a long trip they just need a small place to briefly stop, forage, roost and then continue their journey. Proactive techniques implemented by conservation interest can help reduce potential morality that occurs during migration.

We are aware that Lewis and Clark Lake area, has been used by Whooping Cranes and we expect that to continue and increase. United States Geological Survey personnel used location data acquired from 58 unique individuals fitted with platform transmitting terminals that collected global position system locations. Radio-tagged birds provided 2,158 stopover sites over 10 migrations and 5 years (2010–14) using individual Whooping Cranes. Whooping Cranes were observed in the lake vicinity several times. Also they have been recorded on several Indian Reservations along the lake.

FOTWW Wildlife Biologist Chester McConnell and FOTWW Field Assistant Dorothy McConnell visited Lewis and Clark Lake on September 10, 2019 to assess potential “stopover habitats” for Whooping Cranes. David Hoover, Conservation Biologist, Kansas City, MO, COE made arrangements for our trip. FOTWW appreciates all involved with making preparations for a productive and enjoyable visit.

FOTWW always reviews lake management documents to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the project. Where there is a healthy, productive environment with a diversity of plants and animals provides some evidence that the same area could be beneficial to Whooping Cranes. A summary of our review of COE documents follows:

Lewis and Clark Lake is a major reservoir in South Dakota and Nebraska located on the on the Missouri River. It has is a 31,400 surface acre reservoir during maximum pool. It is located on the border of Nebraska and South Dakota on the Missouri River. The lake is approximately 28 miles in length with over 90 miles of shoreline.

In addition to providing recreational benefits for the region, Lewis and Clark Lake also provides drinking water to many communities located both in and outside of the watershed boundaries. The average annual precipitation in the watershed is 20 to 21 inches of which 77 percent usually falls in April through September. Land use in the watersheds is primarily cropland and grazing. Row crops and hay are the main crops on cultivated lands. Whooping Cranes have plenty to forage on when stopping over.

Habitat changes with the rise and fall of lake levels and affects the number of birds attracted to the reservoir in any given year. FOTWW’s review identifies how important the Lewis and Clark Lake complex is to a large variety of wildlife and fish. Bird watchers frequent Lewis and Clark as a prime area to visit. Bald eagles use the lake and nearby land as favorite habitat. Observant visitors can also spot wild turkeys, deer, coyotes and a large variety of other small birds and mammals.

Hunting is allowed on Lewis and Clark Lake property. Substantial hunting opportunities are available at Lewis and Clark SRA, which include upland game, big game and waterfowl. The lake property provided hunting opportunities for pheasant, quail, doves, deer and wild turkey.

The species listed in the federal list of threatened and endangered species are the bald eagle, which is listed as threatened, the American burying beetle, least tern, piping plover and whooping cranes which are listed as endangered.

In some areas of the lake, excessive sediment has resulted in problems. A project titled “Lewis and Clark Initial Watershed Assessment” has been evaluating the situation. The goal of the project is to locate critical portions of the watersheds draining to Lewis and Clark Lake to be targeted for detailed analysis to be conducted in cooperation with the state of Nebraska beginning in 2004.

The Keya Paha, Lewis and Clark Lake, and Ponca HUCs are all portions of the drainage that enter Lewis and Clark Lake on the Missouri River downstream of Fort Randall Dam. These drainages in combination with the Niobrara watershed in Nebraska drain approximately 10,158,000 acres, of which approximately 2,016,000 acres are located within South Dakota. Loads of suspended solids from these drainages have impaired recreation in Lewis and Clark Lake through sedimentation resulting in a reduction in the number of “useable” lake acres. The goal of this assessment is to locate critical regions in these drainages so that a more detailed study may be conducted to determine exact sources of sediment loads as well as the potential restoration alternatives.

Importantly, some of the threatened and endangered species that use Lewis and Clark Lake use the sediment bars and islands as nesting and roosting habitats.

Notably, during our review of several USACE and USFWS documents we detected only minor information about endangered Whooping Crane within COE documents. Friends of the Wild Whoopers has urged project staff to coordinate with their Omaha District officials and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a management plan for endangered Whooping Cranes.

Figure 2. Phragmites is the brown colored plants in the river. Green arrows point to a small fraction of the phragmites. The plants grow in thick stands to a height of 6 to 8 feet. It is growing all across the lake on areas where shallow waters areas have formed. (See Fig. 3 photo of Phragmites). The numerous shallow water areas are caused by eroded soils from upstream areas. Lewis and Clark Lake is 30% full of sediment and increasing.

**Figure 3. Phragmites growing during summer. It spreads rapidly and uses large quantities of water causing problems in some shallow lakes. There is no space for**
**whooping cranes or waterfowl in a thicket like this.**

Figure 4. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks manage some sediment bars and islands as nesting and roosting habitats for least tern and piping plover which are listed as threatened and endangered species. Whooping Cranes which are listed as endangered also use some of these sites as “stopover habitats” to rest, forage and roost. So, while excessive sediment has created problems for some interest, it has benefits to others. Niobrara River contributes up to 60% of sediment entering Lewis and Clark Lake.

Figure 5. Helicopter making approach to the growth of phragmites in Lewis and Clark Lake. The helicopter will spray herbicide on the phragmites to kill it. The helicopter in this photo is spraying herbicide on the large growth of phragmites. If not controlled, the phragmites will take over the shallow water and wet soil areas and eliminate habitats that are used by numerous wildlife species. When the phragmites dries it will be burned to allow recovery of native plants and associated habitats. The COE and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks uses this as a major management practice for waterfowl and other wildlife that uses wetland. FOTWW was pleased to learn about the aggressive program to kill the phragmites and the use of prescribed fire to manage the area where this invasive plant was killed.

**Figure 6. The prescribed fire is set and will be closely monitored by COE and Fish and Wildlife Service personnel.**

Figure 7. The prescribed fire has burned all of the dead phragmites and shrubs in the burn area. The site is now prepared for additional wildlife management practices to be applied. Whooping Cranes could use the site as a “stopover habitat” in its current condition.

Figure 8. The prescribed fire has burned all of the dead phragmites and shrubs in the burn area. The site is now prepared for additional wildlife management practices to be applied. Whooping Cranes could use the site as a “stopover habitat” in its current condition.

***** 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

Corps, Wild Whoopers team up to save conservation icon

February 9, 2020 by Admin

Story by David Hoover
USACE, Kansas City District

The Aransas-Wood Buffalo population of whooping cranes nests and rears their young in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta/Northwest Territories, Canada, during spring and summer. After the chicks fledge, adults and juveniles migrate 2,500 miles through seven states to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas where they spend the winter.

Cranes must stop 15 to 30 times to rest and feed during their migration. Radio telemetry conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and direct field observation has documented migration stopovers that often occur in habitats associated with water resources development projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout the migration corridor.

The founder and president of the non-profit Friends of the Wild Whoopers, (FOTWW), Chester McConnell worked with Dr. Richard  Fischer of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center; Jeremy Crossland, USACE Headquarters land uses and natural resources program manager; and Michael Champaign, USACE, Fort Worth District biologist, to develop and finalize a Memorandum of Understanding between the Corps of Engineers and FOTWW to assess whooping crane migration stopover habitat and identify measures to maintain or improve that habitat on water resources development projects in the migration corridor.

To read David Hoover’s complete article about the USACE/FOTWW partnership and “stopover habitat” project, click here and scroll to Pages 34-35.

***** 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