Lea Craig-Moore, Wildlife Technician with Environment Canada sent the following report to the Whooping Crane Conservation Association. Lea reports that: “August fledgling surveys have been completed and I am happy to report we found 46 chicks, our second highest year to date. Included in the count were 5 sets of twins, the second highest number on record as well.” This is excellent news after the high mortality suffered by the whooper population during the last two years.
Lea adds, “Despite lower than average precipitation this summer, water levels look good to excellent for this time of year in the crane marshes. No doubt the chicks benefited from the warmer drier summer. There is a great deal of water on the prairies this year so birds will have a lot of choice when it comes to staging this fall.” The Whooping Crane Conservation Association hopes that all the young and adult whoopers will survive and make it to Aransas NWR in Texas this fall. And we seriously hope that the Texas marshes will be healthy with bountiful blue crabs.
