Last September, FOTWW and USACE officials visited Lewis and Clark Lake to assess potential “stopover habitats” for Whooping Cranes. Lewis and Clark Lake is one of the 35 USACE lakes that has been evaluated and is a major reservoir in South Dakota and Nebraska located on the Missouri River.
Last week, Nebraska Game & Parks Conservation Officer Jeff Jones working with the NRM Staff at the lake reported seeing three whooping cranes at the lake. Jeff also supplied the photos below that he took. Hopefully more whooping cranes will be spotted at Lewis and Clark as the migration from Wood Buffalo National Park to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge continues. We hope you enjoy these rare photos and if you would like to read FOTWW’s evaluation of the lake, please click here.
Whooping cranes at Lewis and Clark Lake. Photo by Jeff JonesWhooping cranes at Lewis and Clark Lake. Photo by Jeff JonesWhooping cranes at Lewis and Clark Lake. Photo by Jeff Jones
***** 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 Crane at Rowe Sanctuary during the 2020 spring migration. Click to enlarge.
Some of the birds in the world’s only remaining wild population of Whooping Cranes have begun their annual spring migration back to their nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Canada. The others will follow soon. They are repeating an event that has been going on for thousands of years. Following good conditions during the winter season on their Aransas National Wildlife Refuge winter grounds, the Whoopers appear to be in healthy condition. So, as the remaining Whoopers join the early birds and depart on their 2,500 mile migration to their nesting grounds there is hope for a successful reproduction and nesting season.
Traveling in small groups the Whoopers are expected to begin arriving at their nesting grounds during late April and May.
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is asking the public to report any Whooping Cranes they see along rivers, wetlands and fields. Report your observations to the wildlife agency in your state.
Whooping Crane current and former range and migration corridors. Click to enlarge.
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.
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
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)
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.
Friends of The Wild Whoopers’ (FOTWW) President Chester McConnell will be a speaker at Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival 2019 program on Saturday, March 23rd between 10:00 and 10:50 AM. This year’s Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival, taking place March 21-24, 2019, brings together hundreds of crane lovers from around the country to Kearney, Nebraska. Visitors will get to interact with a wide range of environmental speakers, take part in incredible birding trips, and, best of all, experience the world’s largest gathering of Sandhill Cranes and maybe even a rare sighting of endangered Whooping Cranes!
McConnell will be discussing Whooping Crane biology and habitat needs. FOTWW has been working with military bases, Indian Reservations and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers for the past three years to identify and evaluate existing and potential “stopover habitats” on their properties. FOTWW believes that “stopover habitat” is a necessary but virtually ignored part of the overall effort to save endangered wild Whooping Cranes in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population.
Once habitats have been identified, FOTWW prepares detailed plans for each property explaining how they should be developed and protected to provide essential “stopover habitats” for migrating Whooping Cranes. Whooping Cranes migrate a distance of 2,500 miles two times each year between their nesting habitat on Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada and their Aransas Refuge winter habitat on the Texas coast.
During each of the two annual migrations, the Whooping Cranes must stop to rest and feed 15 to 30 times. FOTWW believes that the wild population is capable of taking care of itself with two exceptions. These Whoopers need man to protect their habitats and to stop shooting them.
Clicking here will take you to the total Audubon’s Nebraska Crane Festival program agenda.
We hope to see you there!
***** 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 are passing through Nebraska for their annual migration, and wildlife officials are helping them by releasing more water into the Platte River at Grand Island.
The release will provide and maintain adequate roosting and feeding habitat for whooping cranes on the Platte River, and is expected to continue through early to mid-November when the whooping cranes leave the region.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to release water from their Environmental Account beginning on Oct. 19. The cranes use the Platte River in Nebraska as a stopover site during their migration in the Central Flyway south to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas for the winter.
