U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Archives - Page 6 of 6

Wintering Whooping Crane Update

February 23, 2015 by Admin

February 22, 2015

Wade Harrell, U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator

It continues to look like a banner year in terms of habitat conditions, with the Refuge having a greater amount of freshwater on the landscape than we have seen in several years. Fall and winter rains are slowly moving us in the right direction. Whooping Cranes have responded to these conditions by spending more time in the coastal marsh, foraging on the relatively abundant blue crabs and other food resources. While we have still seen some Whooping Crane use of inland habitats this year, that trend is definitely down from the peak of the drought 2 seasons ago.

whooping crane update — Photo by Chuck Hardin

Visitors to the Refuge and those observing Whooping Cranes from boat tours have been in a good position this year to observe use of the traditional coastal marsh habitat. We’ve had some outstanding weather lately, and I encourage everyone to come out and visit us before the Whooping Cranes start heading back North in late March. Many of you will be happy to know that we have reinitiated our Refuge bus tours for February and March. Tours are first-come, first-served, and visitors must register in the visitor center the day of the tour. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Friday, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Information on Whooping Crane Death Being Sought

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Texas Parks & Wildlife are seeking information about the death of a Whooping Crane. The carcass of the bird was found on January 4. For more information, please see the press release.

Training Surveys & GoPro Video

We were able to fly some training surveys on January 5-6 with our new Refuge Biologist Keith Westlake and Ecological Services biologist Frank Weaver. We are still working through the best way to utilize GoPro Camera technology in our survey efforts, but have some clips of how things look 200 feet above the marsh. We’ll be uploading the survey clips on our Facebook page, so check it out in the coming week.

GPS tracking study & other Whooping Crane observations

While we have not done any additional marking of Whooping Cranes this winter, we are still consistently tracking 20 GPS marked Whooping Cranes for this study. They also have bi-color bands on the leg opposite of the leg with the transmitter.

If you happen to see a marked bird, please report it to us with as much information as you can (i.e. Red/Black left leg, GPS right leg, location, other birds in the same area, etc.)

Whooping Cranes outside the traditional wintering area that have been reported to Texas Whooper Watch include a single adult bird associated with a group of Sandhill Cranes in Eastern Williamson County, a pair of adult Whoopers near the town of Refugio, and a pair of adults with 2 juveniles in Northwest Matagorda County, Habitat Management on Aransas NWR:

The Refuge successfully conducted 3 burns this winter, 2 on the Blackjack Peninsula along East Shore Road (primary Whooping Crane habitat) and one on Matagorda Island. Total acreage burned was more than 12,000 acres.

Recent Precipitation/Salinity around Aransas NWR:

December precipitation: 2.95” @ Aransas HQ

January precipitation: 2.85” @ Aransas HQ

February precipitation (as of Feb. 22): 0.93” @ Aransas HQ

Salinity at GBRA 1: averaging around 24 ppt

***** 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

Rewards Offered For Information on Death of Whooping Crane in Aransas County, TX

February 4, 2015February 3, 2015 by Admin

by Friends of the Wild Whoopers

Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) will pay a reward not to exceed $10,000 to anyone who provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of any individuals who are responsible for the death of a Whooping Crane believed to have occurred during December 2014 in Aransas County, Texas. The partially decomposed body of the Whooping Crane was recovered by Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPDW) game wardens in Aransas County, Texas on Sunday, January 4, 2015. The dead crane was found near a duck blind located in the Aransas Bay system close to Sand Lake. A local hunting guide originally discovered the crane and contacted Game Wardens.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are continuing to seek information about the dead whooping crane.

The Service is also offering a reward in the amount of $2,500 and TPWD is contributing $1,000 for information about the death of the crane. According to the Service, several other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), are also offering up reward money for this effort.

The reward will be issued if the death of the whooping crane is determined to be a criminal act and the information provided leads to the criminal conviction of the person(s) responsible.

Necropsy results show that the whooping crane may have been handled after death.

Anyone with information about the whooping crane’s death is urged to come forward. Information can be provided to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Houston Office of Law Enforcement at (281) 876-1520, or Operation Game Thief at 1-800-792-GAME (4263). Callers may remain anonymous.

Whooping cranes are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Penalties for harming or killing a crane can range up to a $100,000 fine and/or one year in federal prison.

Whooping cranes almost became extinct with only 16 remaining in the 1940s. Through concerted recovery efforts there are now an estimated 304 cranes in the population that winters in Texas. Standing about 5 feet tall, the whooping crane is the tallest flying bird in North America.

The purpose of the $10,000 reward is to encourage the public to share information they might have about criminal activities involving Whooping Cranes. Federal, State, Provincial, and other public law enforcement personnel, and criminal accomplices who turn “states” evidence to avoid prosecution, shall not be eligible for this reward. If more than one informant is key to solving a specific case, the reward will be equally divided between the informants.

Friends of the Wild Whoopers will continue to provide rewards for killing of whooping cranes in the Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock in accordance with the goals in our mission statement. We invite individuals and other conservation organizations to join with us to establish a reward fund. All donor participants will be acknowledged unless they request to be anonymous. Unfortunately FOTWW’s bank account is very limited and we ask you to do your part.

Please contribute to our “Reward Fund” today by donating or joining Friends of the Wild Whoopers. Click here.

You may also click on the “Donate” button below..

Whooping cranes fly south to increased refuge area

October 7, 2014 by Admin

Environment — October 6, 2014 at 8:30 PMFrom Wood Buffalo National Park

Oil spills, increasingly salinated water threaten birds’ winter habitat

by Dali Carmichael

Photo: Klaus Nigge From now on, the Wood Buffalo whooping cranes will have extra room to stretch their wings while down in their wintering habitat thanks to the acquisition of new parks land.

While the whooping cranes were nesting in their summer homes at Wood Buffalo National Park over the summer, their advocates were working hard to ensure an even larger winter habitat continues to meet their needs.

In a major purchase, the state-run Texas Parks and Wildlife Department took hold of the 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch, which they hope to turn into a wildlife park with dedicated refuge space.

Wade Harrell, a conservationist with US Fish and Wildlife Services, said the new property is located directly across from the whooping crane’s winter home at the National Aransas Wildlife Refuge, which stretches across 115,000 acres of wetlands and is protected by nearby Matagorda Island.

“With the growing population, we’ve seen them use a broader array of habitat types than just the coastal marsh,” Harrell said of the birds, whose population increased to 304 as of this spring. “The last few years we’ve seen a few whooping cranes actually winter on a freshwater reservoir about two miles inland from the coast with different food and vegetation.”

Harrell said the acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch means the state is providing a wider range of safe habitat for the species by establishing one of the few zones along the coast that isn’t privately owned.

“The reason they’re moving off refuge is that it’s basically full; it’s housing as many whooping cranes as is probably possible,” Harrell said. “Our challenge is making sure we try to stay one step ahead of them and try to conserve quality habitat that they can go out and find and use.”

Over the summer, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission accepted the ranch as a donation from a triad of conservation organizations, including the department’s fundraising nonprofit group Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF), as well as the Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Fund.

A majority of funding for the $50-million deal came from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which will cover about $34.5 million to be doled out to the TPWF over the next three years. The funds came from a $2.5-billion pocket overseen by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, created with money from BP and Transocean as a part of plea agreements after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in 2010, resulting in a devastating oil spill.

The remaining amount will be raised through private donations and grants. So far, about $43 million of the total cost has been acquired.

Salt water, oil spills pose concerns

Just as wildfires and oilsands pose risks for whooping cranes as they head north for the summer, the species encounters challenges with its winter habitat, as well.

An ongoing drought has created salty conditions for the Aransas refuge, limiting the birds’ access to fresh drinking water and fostering overly-salinated waters that are unable to sustain local ecosystems. A low annual average of 15 inches of rain adds to the concern, but according to one biologist, human activity in the region has the most significant impacts on the ecosystem’s vitality.

“Texas is, in many areas, highly developed out of businesses that use water; the farmers use a lot of water and residents in the town use lots of water,” said Chester McConnell, president of the conservation group Friends of the Wild Whoopers. “They’re taking lots of fresh water out of the rivers before it can get down to the estuaries where the whooping cranes live. Also, they have about 5,000 major man-made reservoirs in Texas, so the challenge there is they’re stopping lots of water from getting into the rivers.”

McConnell said the water bodies he is most concerned for are the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers, both of which flow into the refuge. For years, The Aransas Project (TAP) conservation group has been in and out of US federal court with the state to eliminate the industrial developments impacting the waterways. The case is currently being appealed by TAP after their original win was reversed.

Harrell said an oil spill at Matagorda Island also caused some concerns for the refuge habitat during April of last year, but with careful and efficient coordination, the mess was quickly cleaned with little impact on local wildlife.
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***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

friendsofthewildwhoopers.org