Central Flyway Archives - Page 4 of 8 - Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Farmer files federal lawsuit to prevent wind farm from starting, to protect Whooping Cranes

March 9, 2017December 6, 2016 by Admin

Farmer files federal lawsuit to prevent recently completed Pratt area wind farm from starting, to protect Whooping Cranes

By John Green The Hutchinson News jgreen@hutchnews.com

PRATT – A Pratt County farmer has filed a suit in federal court seeking to prevent a new wind farm in Pratt County from starting up because of the risk he believes it poses to Whooping Cranes.

Edwin Petrowsky, a former member of the Pratt County Zoning Commission, filed the suit Nov. 23 seeking temporary and permanent injunctions against NextEra Energy Resources.

Petrowsky contends the Ninnescah Wind Farm, which consists of 121 wind generators in the southeast quadrant of the county, is in the flyway of the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Whooping Crane, which is an endangered species. The wind farm is expected to go online next week.

At last count, there was only an estimated 329 wild Aransas-Wood cranes in North America.

Petrowsky charges that NextEra is aware of the danger the project is creating, yet has failed to obtain an “incidental taking permit” that would allow the incidental killing of some birds under the Endangered Species Act.

NextEra spokesperson Steve Stengel said that the company has worked with state and federal authorities “all throughout development of the project” and that the siting of the turbines “has taken into account migratory flyways.”

“Whooping Cranes generally fly higher than the heights of the turbines,” Stengel said. “But, in working with the agencies, we have agreed to ongoing bird monitoring at the site.”

According to an earlier story in the Pratt Tribune, the company has agreed to bird and bat monitoring during its first year of operation, “to track mortality rates.” The farm is also in an area with a high number of bat hibernation sites.

Parts of the wind farm, which will generate 200 megawatts of electricity that Westar Energy is under a 20-year contract to purchase, are within 35 to 40 miles of the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms, both designated as critical habitat for the whooping crane. The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, another designated habitat, is also nearby.

***** 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 Ponds/Wetlands” Plans

March 10, 2017July 13, 2016 by Admin

By Chester McConnell, Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Landowners and other land managers often contact Friends of the Wild Whoopers wanting to know how they can help endangered wild Whooping Cranes. Normally we discuss needs by phone or email. To simplify the process we have developed a brochure to provide information concerning one major and growing need.

This need is to properly manage existing ponds/wetlands or develop new ponds/wetlands so that they will attract Whooping Cranes. These amazing birds migrate 2,500 miles two times each year between their Canadian nesting grounds and their winter habitats on the Texas coast. During these long migrations they must stop to rest about 10 to 15 times.

While there are about a dozen prime stopover sites on wildlife refuges, migrating Whoopers mostly stopover on small ponds/wetlands on private farms just to rest overnight. Over the years thousands of stopover areas have been destroyed due to changes in land use. As the Whooper population continues to increase there is an increasing need for more stopover sites on private lands. The focus for these ponds/wetlands is in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

If you own land would you share a small amount with Whooping Cranes? And if you are not a landowner, possibly you could partner with one to help prepare a stopover pond. Ponds can be about any size from one-third acre and larger. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has cost share funding and technical support that will provide dollars to landowners needing assistance. It is also important to know that ponds developed or managed for Whooping Cranes also provide habitats for many other kinds of fish and wildlife.

Whooping Crane “Stopover Ponds/Wetlands” Plans

Interested persons are invited to check out our new “Stopover Ponds/Wetland” brochure. It lists features needed in stopover ponds, and provides diagrams to assist you with planning.

If you would like to download a printable PDF version of the Stopover Pond/Wetlands Plans, click here.

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 – Rowe Sanctuary

March 10, 2017July 9, 2016 by Admin

by Pam Bates, Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Now that summer is here and all is right in the world of wild Whooping Cranes, we can sit back and reflect back on this phenomenon called spring migration.

Spring time along the Central Flyway

Every year, the Central Flyway becomes alive with hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes making their northern journey to their nesting grounds. During the migration, most will make a stopover at Rowe Sanctuary and if you’re lucky, you may see one or two wild whooping cranes among them.

John Smeltzer spent his entire career in wildlife management in Colorado, is still a board member for the Colorado Wildlife Federation, and has been fortunate enough to see Whooping Cranes while visiting Rowe Sanctuary during the spring migration. John says that he has “followed the recovery efforts of the whooping cranes from the days that the report was only 49 birds in the wild.”

Throughout his career in Wildlife Management, John says that he “only saw three birds in the wild around Larimer County in NE Colorado … and only single birds “hanging out” trying to figure the world out”.

Whooping Cranes – Rowe Sanctuary

John has been fortunate enough to have witness the Great Migration that occurs each spring at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbons, Nebraska. He has graciously given FOTWW the opportunity to share his videos. We are posting John’s videos below, recorded from a blind at Rowe Sanctuary and we will let you enjoy the moments along with his own thoughts and words.

FOTWW thanks John Smeltzer for sharing these videos with us so that we can share them with you. We hope that you enjoy them. Sit back, relax, and turn up your volume.

Whooping Cranes - Rowe Sanctuary — Whooping Cranes – Rowe Sanctuary Photo by John Smeltzer – Click on photo to enlarge.

Videos recorded at Rowe Sanctuary by John Smeltzer

John explained: “The morning was special. Two “white dots” in the emerging mass of sandhills waking up from their overnight at the Rowe Sanctuary. Finally there was enough light to tell that those two “white dots” were a pair of whoopers in the midst of thousands of sandhills. And then they started to dance for us. And after an appropriate amount of cacophony much of the group … including the two whoopers …. rose in the winds ….circled a handful of times to gain altitude and captured a north bound current of wind that pushed them north. I understand they were in Montana by nightfall.”

John added: “This video, shows the pair of Whooping Cranes rise amidst the chaos of the Sandhill rise …. and soar the area for a couple minutes.”

Finally John Smeltzer advised that: “The two Whooping Cranes landed a little closer to us after an initial morning “rise” and set about preening themselves while some Sandhill Cranes danced nearby.”

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org

Whooping Crane “Stopover Habitat” Project Continues Northward

May 9, 2016 by Admin

By Chester McConnell, FOTWW

Whooping Crane “stopover habitat” project Management Team travels North

Efforts to identify, improve and protect Whooping Crane “stopover habitats” on military bases is a vital component in attempts to assist the only remaining wild Whooping Crane population on the planet. The Whooping Crane “stopover habitat” project Management Team traveled into Oklahoma and Kansas recently to continue evaluation of suitable sites on military lands. Stopover habitats are essential components of the ecosystems needs of Whooping Cranes.

— Beck Pond on Fort Riley, Kansas provides all the components for an excellent Whooping Crane “stopover habitat. Much of the shore is clear of tall vegetation and provides open space for a landing site. Pond banks have gradual slopes into the water and shallow areas for roosting sites. Much of the surrounding area is open which allows Whooping Cranes to observe predators. —

Whooping Crane habitat types

Basically there are three habitat types used by Whooping Cranes.
(1) Nesting habitat on Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada is vital for reproduction and adding more cranes to the population.

(2) Wintering habitat at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast is likewise important to allow a warm place with abundant high quality food to allow cranes to rest and recuperate from the nesting season and long migration flights.

(3) Stopover habitats are essential all along the 2,500 mile migration corridor so Whooping Cranes can rest and feed during their long flights between Wood Buffalo and Aransas.

Whoopers must stopover 10 to 20 times to rest and feed during each of their two annual migration. Each of the three habitats types is essential to the survival of endangered Whoopers.

Wetland ponds evaluated

Sixteen wetland ponds were evaluated on three military installations by the Management Team from Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) and Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO). Management recommendations were made that would improve and maintain these wetland ponds as prime stopover habitats. Importantly, many other wetland habitats are located on each base that could be relatively easily and inexpensively developed as stopover habitats if the need arises. Wildlife personnel on each base visited could bring additional ponds up to standard using the information provided to them by the Management Team.

We invite you to be a partner with us in this important stopover habitat project

We need your help. FOTWW’s travel expense (motels, auto expense, and meals) cost an average of $270 per day. If you would like to help, you can send us a donation by check, credit card, or PayPal. Please click here and then click on “become a Friend (member) of the Wild Whoopers”.

Please help us, help them!
THANK YOU!
FOTWW

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org