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[shep]

copied part of story - for the record on here

2 whooping cranes shot
Jan. 27, 2016  A young suspect arrested in the Jan. 10 death of two whooping cranes in East Texas admitted this week to shooting the birds to a biologist with the International Crane Foundation.  This is the second time this month he has admitted to the shooting.

And yet minutes after his second confession Trey Joseph Frederick, 18, entered a plea of not guilty to a federal judge in a U.S. District Court in Beaumont, where he was arraigned on a single Class B Misdemeanor charge. It is unclear why he was charged in only one of the deaths.

Killing a whooping crane is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. If convicted, Frederick faces up six months in federal prison and a fine of up to $15,000. In 2013, a Dallas attorney, while duck hunting near Rockport, mistook a juvenile whooper for a sandhill crane.

The man pleaded guilty and cooperated with authorities. A judge ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine and make a $10,000 community service payment to Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuges, a nonprofit group that supports the refuge where the whooping cranes spend the winter. In addition, he served a year on probation.
snip

[shep]

HEADIN HOME!
January 30, 2016    Sataday    Shepnotes
The birds are flying to Leon Florida today 
They COULD be at their FINAL destination Sonday - at St Marks in Florida
Jan 30 cranes in Georgia - composite pic - video is horrible but took it anyway

Whats next for OM team?
Pilot Joe Duff talks about what is next [/size]
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/82136419

FLORIDa!!!
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/01/30/day-108-florida

Lead Pilot Report
Today, I had the opportunity to lead Whooping cranes for the very last time. As the birds glided along off my left wing, I began to think of a lot of things that have happened over the 25 years I have been involved in bird migration.  - Richard
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/01/30/dedicated-lead-pilot-report
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField

[baziunc]

Latest whooping crane killing renews controversy. Yikes!

http://www.caller.com/sports/outdoors/latest-whooping-crane-killing-renews-controversy-2a30794b-0e73-2e0b-e053-0100007fab5d-366770791.html

Thanks T40!  Incredible, really.  I believe the most important points in this story are in the latter portion of it... not the part about the hunter charged in 2013 and fined for shooting a whooping crane back then... but more about the part of this story pointing out the ignorance of some people and why it's important to get involved with educating people about the issues brought forth in the latter part of this story.

[shep]

PREDICTING
Jan. 31, 2016  -  The forecast for Sunday is calling for light headwinds.
Despite this, we only have a 23 mile flight from Leon County to our final destination at St. Marks NWR so we?re going to attempt a flight.

If you?d like to be on hand to welcome the arrival of the class of 2015 Whooping cranes, please head to the town of St. Marks and follow the signs (or traffic) to the viewing area.

Plan to be on site by 8:15 am Eastern time and don?t forget your camera and a supply of tissues in case I run out.
Please keep in mind the weather could change and we may have to postpone the arrival? sorry.
(forgot to grab link    )

UPDATE - NO GO TODAY

[T40cfr403]

Whooping Crane Flight Delayed

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Whooping-Crane-Flight-Delayed-367142311.html

[T40cfr403]

Spring rains provide whoopers with bountiful food

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2016/jan/30/spring-rains-provide-whoopers-with-bountiful-food/

[shep]

The question - then the answer, or one answer - thanks T!


The question

Whooping Crane Flight Delayed
Terry Peacock refuge manager said, "We've made the decision to stop the ultra-light migration. It's basically because we're trying to find out why we're not having successful breeding.
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Whooping-Crane-Flight-Delayed-367142311.html

One answer

Harrell said
One thing that a migrating species has to deal with is you may see really good conditions where you breed and bad conditions where you winter, or it could be the opposite. It's not always that you have good conditions in both places. It's probably rare, actually.

308 whooping cranes in 2015
The wild population grows about 4 percent per year.
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2016/jan/30/spring-rains-provide-whoopers-with-bountiful-food


I myself have felt the gene pool is too small.  There are cranes in other nations.  DNA in a number of ways can be brought to USA to enhance and strengthen whoopers here.  I have heard Joe Duff mention the small DNA pool.

[baziunc]

Whooping Cranes, known as Grus americana, are not in any countries outside of the USA and Canada.  The total global population of wild and captive Whooping Cranes is only in the USA and Canada.  The Whooping Cranes in Canada are part of one of the 4 USA populations, as that group migrates between Canada and the USA.  There had been some in Mexico at one time, but they are now regionally extinct. 
There is much good info throughout this page on Whooping Cranes:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/lifehistory

And there is much scientific detail about Whooping Cranes on this IUCN List of Threatened Species page.  Scroll down that page to the sections on "Geographic Range" and "Population" and "Conservation Actions" for those details:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22692156/0

Additional info at The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America, "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, Part 17.84," re. rules regarding any relocation of any Whooping Crane:
http://tinyurl.com/hlnaqpr (this tiny url results from the conversion of the long url below - both links are to the same page)
or:
https://books.google.com/books?id=06k8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=are+there+any+whooping+cranes+outside+the+united+states?&source=bl&ots=2ILviS4lgp&sig=sZJwO3EN96QYrdRX68jOKJyunSs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC-K7XodfKAhXBOyYKHQdCCxkQ6AEIRjAG#v=onepage&q=are%20there%20any%20whooping%20cranes%20outside%20the%20united%20states%3F&f=false

The only captive Whooping Cranes in the world are in the USA and Canada, at the locations specifically listed in the last sentence of the first paragraph at this page:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/esa_works/profile_pages/WhoopingCrane.html

[shep]

  Another Loss Feb. 2, 2016
Crane #9-14 was  predated at St. Marks NWR by a bobcat.
Her sister #10-14 (Marsha) was predated January 1st.
The OM team will attempt to capture the bobcat and release it elsewhere.

The Royal Couple
Whooping crane #3-14. She and male #4-12 had been at the winter pen area and had been associating with both 9-14 & 10-14.
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/02/02/sadly-another-loss
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField





February 3, 2016    day    Shepnotes

#9 obituary
#9 was called TIMID and had a yellow band.  She was one of those OM experimented with putting a backpack on her.  This test did not work.  At the end of June, 2014 Geoff, the volunteer costumed handler, wrote about #9
"She?s a bird who loves her space more than life itself, and any bird who?s in her three-foot bubble is in for a bad time. She?ll peck or chase them out of her comfort zone." Luckily, she's fine once the others get away from her. She has a lot to be sunny about, as her tough attitude has landed her the top spot in the pecking order. The chicks do their best to stay out of her way.

By mid-November the chatroom was calling #9  Luna cuz she is a little - looney
Class of 2014 - my notes
http://cj.myfreeforum.org/ftopic4464-0-asc-108.php


The Royal Couple Joins Training July 16, 2015

[shep]

February 4, 2016    Thursday    Shepnotes
No fly - rain

St. Marks Festival Feb. 6 from 11 am to 4 pm
2016 marks the centennial of the Convention between the U.S. and Great Britain (for Canada) for the Protection of Migratory Birds, and Treatys with Japan, Russia and Mexico.  St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge will recognize the story of 100 years of migratory bird conservation at its annual Festival on Saturday Feb. 6, 2016.

Activities for all ages will take place at this year?s festival and include live music, live animals, and a great line-up of exhibitors.
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/02/03/st-marks-nwr-who-festival

[shep]

HOME!
February 6, 2016  Sataday    Shepnotes
With no decent weather in the forseeable future and not wanting to delay the migration any longer, we?re going to crate the young Whooping cranes the remaining distance.
Not ideal but best under the circumstances?
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/02/06/no-go-3
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField

[baziunc]

HOME!
February 6, 2016  Sataday    Shepnotes
With no decent weather in the forseeable future and not wanting to delay the migration any longer, we?re going to crate the young Whooping cranes the remaining distance.
Not ideal but best under the circumstances?
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/02/06/no-go-3
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField

Thanks for that update, shep.  And awww... too bad they had to make the final leg by crate, but glad they are all safely at their wintering grounds now.     

And so here ends the the use of an ultralight-led first Autumn migration of the young Whooping Cranes in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership.  They did all they could to help increase the population of the whoopers, but apparently the whoopers that were part of this program were not having the hoped-for reproductive success in the wild that would lead to a self-sustaining population, and so all the methods of rearing and releasing young whoopers in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership will be modified.  I am so thankful for all who spent so much time, energy, research, money, and support for this Project, and for educating the public about the plight of these birds.  They have been a vital link in the learning and practice of methods to help with bringing back Whooping Cranes from the brink of extinction.

[baziunc]

Here follows the "Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Statement on Vision for the Future," released January 22, 2016, which basically says that the Eastern Partnership's ultralight-led whooping crane migration will end this year and modifications will be made to all of the rearing and release methods to improve success - meaning primarily to improve the success of the Eastern Migratory Population of whooping cranes to hopefully attain a self-sustaining population, because it has been determined that there has been a lack of reproductive success in the wild using the current methods of UL-led migration and possibly some of the human intervention methods used in the rearing and release of the whoopers in the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, and says, "Modifications are being made to put emphasis on more natural methods of rearing and releasing young whooping cranes, which means discontinuing ultralight-led migrations and perhaps other techniques that rely heavily on human intervention as recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."  My own interpretation, to be confirmed by future statements, assumes they also mean that they may stop the heavy reliance upon the costumed-human rearing method of the young birds, and put more emphasis on natural methods of rearing and releasing young whoopers.

Here is the full statement:
http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/pdf/WCEPstatement22Jan16.pdf

[shep]

   FREE at LAST!
FREE at LAST!

Many pictures of the release of the cranes.
Good photos
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/02/07/st-marks-arrival-photo-round-up

[T40cfr403]

Whooping cranes' predatory behavior key for adaptation, survival

http://phys.org/news/2016-02-whooping-cranes-predatory-behavior-key.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ctgr-item&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter