Olive-Sided Flycatcher 9-1RICHARD H SCHMID <SCHMID_R AT msn.com>

This morning (Sep 1) there was an Olive-Sided Flycatcher perched in dead
branches on top of a Bur Oak tree in front of Camp Brewster (1313 Bellevue
Blvd; Bellevue, NE; Sarpy County), which is part of Fontenelle Nature
Association property.
Last night, I observed several hundred Common Nighthawks flying over Fontenelle
property, as well. Good birding - Rick

owls and others9-1 Wayne Easley <easley57 AT YAHOO.COM>
Hi:?Yesterday, Larry Jones and I made our way over to Petersburg to check on
the barn owls.? On the way over, we drove down old 281 to the W. of Devil's
Lake?(mostly under water now) as far as we could.? It is now impossible to get
to the best places there?so might want to try some other locations for a
while.? We did see a pair of snow geese about 3 miles south of #2 but not much
else.? We arrived in Petersburg about 7:30 pm and were told that?two of the
immature owls had been spotted earlier in the day but the adults would likely
not show up until around 9:00 pm.? Eventually as the evening wore on there were
10 of us looking for the owls and fighting off the ever increasing number of
mosquitos!? At one home in the NW part of the village, we talked to the folk
living there and the lady said about 4 weeks ago, a strange looking bird had
fallen from some sort of nest in a tangle high in the trees.? She thought it
might have been one of the baby

owls?? Larry and I thought that nest in the tree (may be a?hollow in the tree)
could very well be the owl nest.? We waited and waited?and on the stroke of
9:00 pm exactly two adult barn owls flew out from above us and began to feed in
the marsh just to the NW of Petersburg.? It was quite a sight to see them
hunting in the light of the evening sunset.?Noting that a road goes right
through the marsh where the owls were; we decided to drive that way.? It was a
wonderful sight to see the two birds crossing in front of the car.? We had seen
many owl pellets earlier, so these birds are doing good!? Around 9:15 pm, the
birds flew back into the backyard of the Yocum's residence (on 2nd Ave.).? It
was too dark to see if they were taking food to the immatures but they may have
been doing just that!? On our return trip to Harvey (arrived home about
midnight), we saw multiple animals on the road: a?male deer, a skunk, and 10
raccoons some with little
ones.?A big thank you to the hospitable people there in?Petersburg?who were
most helpful and to Dave?Lambeth for getting us on the owls.? Wayne Easley in
Harvey, ND at 701-324-2344?


Hettinger-Adams Co.8-30 Chris Hiatt <hiattch AT SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Since it was too rainy and cold to pull honey today, I checked yards in Mott.?
In between storms and almost getting stuck a couple of times on the back roads,
I found 18 Hettinger co birds.? Not too bad.? Here's some of the county birds I
had:
Mott Park along Cannonball River and dam:
Olive sided flycatcher
spotted sandpiper
Marsh 3mi N. and 4 mi E. of Mott or 69th St.? This spot has great water levels
and could be a real happening shorebird spot,plus I had no scope to check out
the far away birds:
Pectoral sandpipers (11 or more)
Black tern 5
prarie falcon
kestral
horned grebe
c.snipe
lesser yellowlegs
says phoebe
Hettinger- Adams Co-Mirror Lake 4 new co.birds
Wood ducks 5
Eur.collared dove
yellow headed blackbirds (25!)
osprey
Good birding folks,but be careful the backroads are muddy now,
Chris Hiatt Bowman
: Barn Owls 8-30 Sherry <bird_nd AT YAHOO.COM>
Made a trip to Petersburg and about 9:15PM the owls?gave their horrible call and
then I finally saw one in the tree by the house in the NW corner of town.? As I
was leaving three of the owls flew right in front of the car so good
views.??Added a?few more?county birds and?ZILLIONS of mosquitoes so plan on
taking repellent if you go looking for the owls.
Great birds!!
Sherry Leslie
725-4389
Barn Owl8-30Corey Ellingson <crackerjackbirder AT BIS.MIDCO.NET>
D   Since I could not get away Saturday, I made a trek to Petersberg
yesterday (Sunday Aug 29).  I always hesitate to post negative sightings as
other people may not take the time to good looking, but I did not locate an
owl in my searching between 3:30 and 6:00pm.  They are probably somewhere
there, just not in the usual roost tree (that was pointed out to us).  I
was somewhat distracted by warblers also.  Before yesterday, I had observed
4 species (6 individuals!) this fall in Bismarck.

My sightings for the day however:
Griggs Co (reached 200 species for the county):

town of Hannaford
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3
12 warbler species including Canada.

Intersection of Hwy 32 and 45 farmstead
14 species of warbler including
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blackburnian Warbler
Canada Warbler
Orchard Oriole
(swore I heard a Red-bellied Woodpecker, but never saw the bird)
Nelson county:
Aneta Dam:
Yellow-rumped Warbler

town of Petersberg
Common Nighthawk (3)
Olive-sided Flycatcher
9 warblers incl. Canada
Just south of Stump Lake, also located a Black Duck among 100 Mallards. 
The birds flushed as I was finishing scoping.
Eastern Kingbirds still around, no Westerns. 
Good Birding,
Corey Ellingson
Bismarck, ND

  Armour 8-31 Keith Corliss <koolhand AT JUNO.COM>
West Fargo's (Cass Co.) Armour Park gave up 13 warbler species this morning 
with Wilson's being the most numerous. First of seasons were blackpoll and 
magnolia. 
K. Corliss, West Fargo

  Since I could not get away Saturday, I made a trek to Petersberg 
yesterday (Sunday Aug 29).  I always hesitate to post negative sightings as 
other people may not take the time to good looking, but I did not locate an 
owl in my searching between 3:30 and 6:00pm.  They are probably somewhere 
there, just not in the usual roost tree (that was pointed out to us).  I 
was somewhat distracted by warblers also.  Before yesterday, I had observed 
4 species (6 individuals!) this fall in Bismarck.  
My sightings for the day however:
Griggs Co (reached 200 species for the county):
town of Hannaford
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3
12 warbler species including Canada.

Intersection of Hwy 32 and 45 farmstead
14 species of warbler including
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Thrush
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blackburnian Warbler
Canada Warbler
Orchard Oriole
(swore I heard a Red-bellied Woodpecker, but never saw the bird)
Nelson county:
Aneta Dam:
Yellow-rumped Warbler
town of Petersberg
Common Nighthawk (3)
Olive-sided Flycatcher
9 warblers incl. Canada
Just south of Stump Lake, also located a Black Duck among 100 Mallards.  
The birds flushed as I was finishing scoping.
Eastern Kingbirds still around, no Westerns.  
Good Birding,  Corey Ellingson   Bismarck, ND

Barn Owls in Petersburg 8-29 David Lambeth <davidlambeth58201 AT YAHOO.COM>
here currently is a family group of five Barn Owls in Petersburg. I have
permission from Joe and Lorie who live at 619 2nd Ave (yellow house) to post
this information. Birders should check in with them, or their next door
neighbor to the west who was also very helpful in showing us where two of the
owls were roosting yesterday afternoon in a tree in her back yard. These two
owls use this tree a lot as a roost spot, but of course no guarantee can be
made that they will be there on a given day. And it should be added that since
the young are flying well, the whole group could leave the area at any time.

If not found in that tree, try walking streets and alleys to the east and south
of Joe and Lorie's residence and looking carefully through every tree.
Petersburg has many large, mature trees so finding one of the five owls can be
a challenge. If a daytime search doesn't pan out, the owls do become active
about 8:45 to 9 PM and can be seen flying over the nw corner of Petersburg when
it likely will be to dark to make out field marks.
Good Birding!
Dave Lambeth
Grand Forks, North Dakota

male White-winged Crossbill8-29: Lawrence D Igl <ligl AT USGS.GOV>

Amy and I saw/heard a male White-winged Crossbill singing from the top of 
a spruce tree at the Army Corps headquarters at Pipestem Dam on Saturday, 
28 Aug.
**************************************************************
Lawrence D. Igl, Ecologist
U.S.G.S. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
8711 37th Street SE
Jamestown, North Dakota 58401-7317
Phone:    701-253-5511
Fax:       701-253-5553
E-mail:    ligl AT usgs.gov
Internet:     www.npwrc.usgs.gov
**************************************************************

Upper Souris NWR 8-27 Ron Martin <jrmartin AT SRT.COM>
Among 15 species of shorebirds on "B" pool at Upper Souris today was a single
Red Knot. Also 3 Am. Golden Plovers, the first I have seen this fall.
Good birding,
Ron Martin
Sawyer
Minot Lagoons   8-27 Rod Fossen <rfossen AT MIN.MIDCO.NET>
On Wednesday evening I saw a Peregrine Falcon at the Lagoons.  It was
sitting on a fence post and let me get some what close for pictures, much
closer than a Buteo would have anyway.
Rod Fossen, Minot

wood thrush 8-27: Larry Jones <jljones AT DAKTEL.COM>
Wed. we had a wood thrush pop in behind our house for a quick bath. Nothing
yesterday but today my wife saw him again and confirmed that it was a wood
thrush. Larry Jones  Bowdon, N.D
Phone: 701-766-4272 ext. 428
Fax: 701-766-4096
tom_ibsen AT fws.gov

Long-tailed Jaeger 8-26 Corey Ellingson <crackerjackbirder AT BIS.MIDCO.NET>
  Eve Freeberg just called me to report what she believes to be a juvenile
Long-tailed Jaeger at the GF Lagoons.   The bird at the present time is
straight north of the plant she says.   If anyone wishes to stop by there,
please check in at the plant.    As you may recall, there was a bird
identified as a juvenile Long-tailed Jaeger at the same location on 04 Sept
2007 also.
Thanks Eve, and Good Birding!
Corey Ellingson
Bismarck, ND

  As I am apt to be I was out watering (~6:30-7:20P) to look up to see
a kettle of well over 100 MIKIs, I quickly went in the house for the
bins and raced up to the road where i could get a wider view of the
sky.  There were kites in every direction and as far as I could see,
Hundreds of them to roost nearby, maybe even on my property  So many
kites I could not get a number as the circled the neighborhood ,  so
low I can make out the facial features and eyes w/o bins.  I have seen
likely 7-800 over about 20 min.s alone and this is just a small area
from which I can get a somewhat broad view, in the area overall there
may well be 1000's, they do not appear to be going south, but in all
directions as they mill around, coming down lower and lower as it gets
closer to dark. There are a few Broad-winged Hawks.  I can snap the
camera in any direction and get a dozen or more MIKIs in a frame...

Update 7:48P .They are coming down to the trees, landing then taking
off and landing!  They were feasting in a sky full of  Dragonflies. I
can see them munch away in flight.  They are in my dead oaks now...to
stay? ...They are everywhere, surely well over 1000, maybe 2000, maybe
more?!  I don't know

http://picasaweb.google.com/BrushFreeman/20100903#5512849304308241154
Finally a "rain" of sorts. Get set Corpus!

  While this morning was dull, as we had no rain to put birds down,
this afternoon things picked up greatly.  The upside to these parched
conditions is there are few small water features around.  My bird
baths and especially the sprinkler sucked passerines in like a Hoover
beginning around 2:00.  Had my FOS Canada Warbler grace my offerings
as well as numerous Yellow, Wilson's Nashvilles etc. ....Sometimes it
just pays to stay in your yard/property.

Brush Freeman
Field Biologist
Texas Environmental Studies and Analysis
C 361-655-7641

Mississippi Kites in Bastrop County 9-3 Ian Layton <ilayton AT GMAIL.COM>
Taking an evening stroll around the neighborhood, we had a kettle of
about 60 Mississippi Kites quite low over our heads, generally trending
to our west towards Austin from western Bastrop County  AT  Hwy 71. We were
able to observe them for almost 40 mins as they drifted around above our
home.
Ian M. Layton
Cedar Creek, TX
ilayton AT gmail.com

9-3-10 Fall Migrants @ Warbler Woods 8-3<warblerwoods AT GMAIL.COM>
9-3-10 Fall Migrants  AT  Warbler Woods
Fun birds and visitors!  Hope you can join us tomorrow for an open gate day.
Susan Schaezler
WarblerWoods.com
Cibolo/Schertz
Location:     Warbler Woods
Observation date:     9/3/10
Notes:     Arnold Pfrommer, Tom Toporowski, SS, DJS, Dick Fortenberry
Number of species:     33

Northern Bobwhite     2
Great Egret     1
Black Vulture     3
Turkey Vulture     2
Crested Caracara     1
Killdeer     3
White-winged Dove     33
Mourning Dove     24
Inca Dove     3
Common Ground-Dove     3
Greater Roadrunner     1
Chimney Swift     2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird     2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher     1
Loggerhead Shrike     5
White-eyed Vireo     3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow     4
Barn Swallow     52
Carolina Chickadee     7
Black-crested Titmouse     8
Carolina Wren     5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     2
Northern Mockingbird     21
Nashville Warbler     1
Yellow Warbler     5
Black-throated Green Warbler     1
Black-and-white Warbler     1
Northern Cardinal     21
House Finch     12
Lesser Goldfinch     21
House Sparrow     20

Migrants by the 360 bridge in Austin] 9-3 Ian Layton <ilayton AT GMAIL.COM>
Just as I read this, my wife came in reporting a similar sighting of
15-20 Ibis  in western Bastrop County headed east along Hwy 71 - perhaps
the same flock of White-faced that Mikael reported?
Ian M. Layton
Cedar Creek, TX
ilayton AT gmail.com
Hall County today 9-3 Brady Surber <supersurber AT HOTMAIL.COM>
Hi all spent all morning and most of the afternoon in Hall co. today. 54
species, 21 of which were county birds.

The highlights were:

1 House Wren in a brushy area around a creek on the southwest side of town. Had
two at this same location in Late July so probably the same bird or progeny
there of.
Had both Yellow and Red shafted Northern Flickers. Wasn't too big of a surprise
for me but always cool to see both. These were both at the Memphis city park.
Also at this park were Red-headed Woodpecker and Hairy Woodpecker.
Yellow-billed Cuckoos were still around.
Norhtern Rough-winged Swallows over Memphis. As well as 10 Purple Martins on a
highline wire.
Had two Eastern Kingbirds on a wire at the intersection of CR 19 and TX 256

Had 1 Common Raven and 2 Rufous-crowned Sparrows at a cedar break/canyon along
FM657. 
The Tamarisk/Cottonwood stands on the north side of the Prairie Dog Town Fork
Red River bridge on FM657 held a Least Flycatcher, Wilson's Warbler, and Summer
Tanager.
Similar habitat around the FM 657 crossing of the Little Red River a few miles
further south yielded 2 Willow Flycatchers and 2 Western Wood-Pewees.
The last honey hole was another Canyon/Cedar Break just outside of Turkey on TX
70 (maybe 3 miles out tops).
This place added:
Rock Wren
Lesser Goldfinch
Orchard Oriole
a late Painted Bunting
Spotted Towhee
and
Canyon Towhee
Last nights thunderstorms contributed greatly to the good birding.
Brady Surber                                      

Eared Grebes, Black & Forsters Terns, and a lot of Shorebirds 9/1-9/3/10 Lubbock & Smyer
From: Steve Collins <dcollins AT UFL.EDU

I've checked a few spots over the past few days for shorebirds,
including McAlister Park in southwest Lubbock, the playa on Route 309
adjacent to Reese Center, and the playa northwest of Smyer.  They have
been really hopping with shorebirds (12 species at McAlister on
Thursday).  Perhaps as some encouragement to get other local birders out
looking, I posted some snapshots from McAlister Park taken Thursday evening.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/odephoto/sets/72157624872090736/
As Cameron Carver pointed out, most of the shorebirds are congregating
on the east side of the large body of water at McAlister Park.  Even
more shorebirds are at the rectangular basin east of that (near some
warehouses).  A scope helps, but there are enough birds right now that
just going with binoculars would still be enjoyable.

Location:     Reese Center- Rt 309 Playa
Observation date:     9/1/10
Blue-winged Teal     6
Northern Harrier     1
Spotted Sandpiper     1
Yellow-headed Blackbird     3

Location:     Smyer Playa
Observation date:     9/1/10
Blue-winged Teal     3
Black-necked Stilt     12
American Avocet     4
Spotted Sandpiper     3
Baird's Sandpiper     18
Pectoral Sandpiper     1
Black Tern     1
Location:     Lubbock- McAlister Park
Observation date:     9/2/10
Blue-winged Teal     22
Great Blue Heron     11
Black-crowned Night-Heron     2
American Avocet     29
Spotted Sandpiper     3
Greater Yellowlegs     12
Lesser Yellowlegs     1
Semipalmated Sandpiper     3
Western Sandpiper     14
Least Sandpiper     4
Baird's Sandpiper     19
Pectoral Sandpiper     1
Stilt Sandpiper     3
Wilson's Phalarope     5 - these birds landed in the Blue-winged Teal
flock, sat there for less than a minute, and then took off again.  I
watched them until they were specks on the horizon.  I think there is a
lot of turnover throughout the day, with some birds not even stopping to
feed.
Black Tern     2
Burrowing Owl     27 - counted by simply scanning 360-degrees with my
scope.  There are certainly more around.

Location:     Reese Center- Rt 309 Playa
Observation date:     9/3/10
Blue-winged Teal     40
Cinnamon Teal     1 female
Black-crowned Night-Heron     16
Red-tailed Hawk (Fuertes's)     1
Black-necked Stilt     3
Spotted Sandpiper     2
Solitary Sandpiper     2
Greater Yellowlegs     1
Lesser Yellowlegs     2
Least Sandpiper     10
Stilt Sandpiper     2
Wilson's Phalarope     11
Forster's Tern     4
Yellow Warbler     3
Yellow-headed Blackbird     8
Location:     Smyer Playa
Observation date:     9/3/10
Blue-winged Teal     10
Northern Shoveler     45
Northern Pintail     6
Redhead     2
Eared Grebe     2 - one alternate plumaged bird with yellow wisps and
all.  The other is a 1st fall.  It may be worth checking that one again.
White-faced Ibis     4
Black-necked Stilt     23
American Avocet     16
Spotted Sandpiper     2
Greater Yellowlegs     5
Lesser Yellowlegs     2
Least Sandpiper     8
Stilt Sandpiper     2
Wilson's Phalarope     26
Greater Roadrunner     1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher     1
Cheers,
Steve Collins
Lubbock, TX

Tom Stehn, Whooping Crane Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

The sixth aerial census of the 2009-10 whooping crane season was conducted
February 16, 2010 in a Cessna 210 piloted by Gary Ritchey of Air Transit
Solutions of Castroville, Texas with USFWS observer Tom Stehn.  Sighted on
the flight were 237 adults and 19 juveniles = 256 total whooping cranes.  No
evidence of mortality was noted on the flight other than the one juvenile
that had died earlier in the winter.  The radioed family on Lamar Peninsula
was overlooked on the flight, but GPS data indicates it was on Lamar before
and after the census flight.  Since it has not been documented leaving Lamar
since being tagged in December, it is considered very unlikely that they had
moved over to San Jose to account for the extra family found there during
the census.  The flight provided a firm tally of the 20 family groups
currently at Aransas.  With one juvenile last seen in Oklahoma December 25th
that apparently separated from its parents during migration and is
presumably okay and wintering in an unknown location, and the S. Sundown
Island chick that has died at Aransas, this accounts for 22 of the 22
juveniles found in Canada during the mid-August fledging surveys.  This is
one more juvenile accounted for than on previous survey flights this winter.
With the one documented mortality this winter, the current flock size is
estimated at 242 + 21=263.

February 16th - Recap of whooping cranes (256) found at Aransas:

        Adults + Young
San Jose          55 + 5 =   60
Refuge    47 + 5 =   52
Lamar     16 + 0 =   16*
Matagorda         93 + 7 = 100**
Welder Flats      24 + 2 =   26
Hynes Bay           2 + 0 =     2
Total   237 + 19 = 256*

*    One family group was overlooked.
**  Ties record high for Matagorda Island set during the 2008-09 winter.

The territories of adult cranes remain difficult to figure out as many of
the crane pairs have left their marsh and are searching for food on the
uplands.  Upland areas on the barrier islands are flooded, with numerous wet
swales on the uplands up to the beach dunes.  Three cranes on Matagorda
Island were in one of these flooded swales next to the dunes.  Overall
habitat use documented included an unusually high 67 cranes (26%) on
unburned uplands, 16 in open bays, two at a game feeder south of the Big
Tree on Lamar, 0 on prescribed burns, and 171 (67%) in salt marsh.  Blue
crabs are at low levels and the cranes are having to look for other sources
of food, although some cranes continue to catch a few crabs.  This is a
stressful time of winter for the whooping cranes as evidenced by all the
cranes on uplands.

No whooping cranes have been reported up the coast at Smith Marsh in
Matagorda County located west of the Nature Conservancy's Mad Island Marsh
Preserve since 1/17/10.  Two whooping cranes are continuing to winter
northwest of Austwell on the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area
managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
I noted one thing on the flight that I had never observed previously.
Twenty sandhill cranes on the southern end of the crane range on San Jose
Island flushed from the census aircraft and flew a very short distance to
stand in open bay habitat.  I had never seen sandhill cranes before in open
bay habitat.
Flight Conditions:  Visibility was excellent throughout the flight, though
the sun angle on late afternoon transects made for difficult viewing
conditions when heading into the sun at Welder Flats.  Winds were light and
flight conditions were smooth until mid-afternoon, enabling us to travel at
approximately 130 knots for most of the flight.  Due to reported crane
movements, the search area was expanded further out into upland areas.  This
paid off, as cranes were found near the beach dunes on Matagorda Island,
inland in a pasture at Welder Flats and on Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
uplands.  The largest group size observed was 9 birds seen on the uplands on
San Jose and in the marsh on Matagorda Island.

Post-Flight Update
Food availability improved for the cranes during the last week in February
with more cranes observed feeding on 2-3-inch blue crabs.  Upland swales
remain very wet and bay salinities remain moderate < 10 ppt.

Spring Migration, 2010
A single white-plumaged whooping crane was confirmed present at Salt Plains
NWR in northern Oklahoma on February 24th and 26th. Since we did not know of
any other white-plumaged whooping cranes in the Flyway this winter, this
must be a case of a whooper on the Texas coast getting influenced by
sandhill cranes and starting the journey ahead of the normal time for
whooping cranes.  Except for birds that had a history of separating from
their parents as juveniles, I think it would be the earliest migration start
on record.
- Tom Stehn, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Tom Stehn's Whooping Crane Report - February 1, 2010

The fifth aerial census of the 2009-10 whooping crane season was conducted January 21, 2010 in a Cessna 210 piloted by Gary Ritchey of Air Transit Solutions of Castroville, Texas with USFWS observer Tom Stehn.  Sighted on the flight were 235 adults and 18 juveniles = 253 total whooping cranes.  This was 10 birds less than the last flight conducted 1-05-10.  However, flight time was limited by fog that did not burn off until 10:30 AM, so some cranes were presumably overlooked, as search time had to be condensed.   More telling than the total number of cranes tallied was the distribution observed that seemed to confirm the estimated flock size.  However, it definitely appears that one juvenile has died since arriving at Aransas.  This juvenile had been found in the refuge’s South Sundown Island territory.  On today’s flight, a pair believed to be the S. Sundown Island pair was seen very close to their territorial neighbors to the south.  It seemed clear that I was looking at adjacent territorial pairs, and that the S. Sundown Island pair was missing its chick.  It is also possible that the Dewberry Island pair at Welder’s Flats has lost their chick, but it is also possible they had moved over to the refuge’s Power Lake on Matagorda Island where there was an unexpected family. 

The territories of adult cranes remain difficult to figure out as many of the crane pairs have left their marsh and are searching for food on the uplands.  On today’s flight, an unusually high 52 cranes were on unburned uplands, 4 were on the C14 refuge burn, 13 were in open bays, two were at a game feeder south of the Big Tree on Lamar, and 182 (72%) were in salt marsh.  Blue crabs are at extremely low levels and the cranes are having to look for other sources of food.  This is a very stressful time of winter for the whooping cranes.  One additional juvenile that apparently separated from its parents during migration was sighted near Medford, Oklahoma December 14-25 has not been re-sighted but is presumably doing okay in an unknown location.

The flock size is currently estimated at 244 adults + 19 juveniles = 263.

January 21st - Recap of whooping cranes (253) found at Aransas:

 *    The presence of one chick last seen in Oklahoma makes the current estimated flock size 263, including 19 chicks.  One chick has died since arriving at Aransas.  

One whooping crane was sighted on 1/17/10 by a TPWD biologist on the Smith Marsh in Matagorda County. The Smith Marsh is private property just to the west of the Nature Conservancy's Mad Island Marsh Preserve a considerable ways up the coast from Aransas.

Flight Conditions:  Visibility was excellent throughout the flight, though the sun angle on late afternoon transects made for difficult viewing conditions when heading into the sun.  Winds were light and flight conditions were smooth, enabling us to travel at approximately 130 knots for most of the flight.  Due to reported crane movements, the search area was expanded much further out into upland areas.  However, only three additional cranes were found in the uplands at Welder Flats, whereas 12 had been located there the previous week.  This difference seemed to account for the 10 fewer cranes found on today’s flight compared to the previous flight.  In addition, no cranes were found at the refuge’s Burgentine Lake, whereas seven had been present on the previous flight.  The largest group size observed was seven birds seen on the uplands on San Jose and in the marsh on Matagorda Island. 

      Tom Stehn                                     

Whooping crane statistics:Height: five feet, the tallest bird in North America   Wingspan: seven feet
Weight: Males 16 pounds; females 14 pounds.

Call: A trumpeting kerloo ker-lee-oo.    Flight speed: 30-45 mph

All time population low for North America: 21 birds in 1941

All time low at Aransas: 15 birds in 1941

Current size of the Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock:  247

Reproduction:   Whooping cranes mate for life, but will find a new mate if one dies.  

Courtship: Dances appear to keep the pair's bond strong. 

Nesting:   Cranes normally lay 2 eggs, but usually only one chick survives.

Wild Populations

^A  The peak population for the Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock in the 2008-09 winter was     270.  However, 23 birds died during the winter, leaving 247.

B   Fifty-two chicks hatched in Canada in 2009 but only 22 fledged.  They will not be     added to the table until they arrive at Aransas in the fall.

The band is engraved with a multi-digit number. If the bird is captured or found dead and the band is recovered, data kept at the USFWS National Bird Band Lab at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center would identify the bird by its band number. It would also tell when and where the bird was banded. Every bander is required to turn in reports of what they banded to the Bird Banding Lab.

Bands with radio transmitters were never used for tracking birds of the world's only naturally occurring population of Whooping cranes, but they are always used for the birds in the reintroduced Eastern flock. In fact, no birds of the Aransas/Wood Buffalo flock have been banded since 1988. (You can read more about what we learned from banding the wild birds and give a try at using the raw banding data with the help of another long-time USFWS scientist named Wally Jobman at this link.) As recently as 2007 we continued to learn about the life of a bird still wearing bands. And who knows what we may learn this spring if a banded bird is making yet another migration to the nesting grounds in Canada's far north? After the bad conditions at their wintering grounds here in Texas, some of the birds may be weak and malnourished despite the 13 feeders set on the refuge. They will soon begin the 2,500-mile migration, and I hope they are ready for the hard journey north.
Tom Stehn
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Austwell, Texas

Thanks to Wally Jobman (retired, USFWS in Nebraska), you CAN "meet" a migrating whooper! Wally sent us all the sighting records for one of his favorite banded cranes. Scientists use this kind of raw data — carefully collected observations and records — to piece together the stories of cranes' lives. It takes a bit of detective work and a lot of curiosity to figure it out. It often results in more questions than answers. But that's what science is all about! We're eager to give you the same challenge and adventure in making sense of raw data. What kind of story will you piece together from Crane RwR-B's sighting data? Before you rush to read the banding data, here's more about the banding program and RwR-B:

Wally explains, "The whooping crane color-banding program was conducted between 1977 and 1988. No birds have been banded since 1988. Therefore, most of the banded birds have bands that are difficult to identify because they're faded, broken, or missing. A lot of valuable information has been collected from banded birds, such as whether the birds use the same sites each migration, the stability of the pair bonds, and the establishment of territories on the nesting and wintering areas.

The bird whose sighting records you will study has been observed more often than the other color-banded birds. It has been a very productive bird. It was banded as a chick at Wood Buffalo National Park prior to fledging. All bands were made of plastic and placed above the bird's knee (tibio-tarsus joint). RwR means red-white-red: the bird has a 3-inch wide red band with white horizontal stripe in the middle on its left leg. The letter B means the bird has a 3-inch wide blue band on its right leg. At the time of this writing, the only band remaining on this bird is a silver USFWS band on the right ankle.

Questions to Consider As You Read the Data:

• How old is RwR-B?
• How many times was RwR-B seen?
• With how many different individuals was RwR-B seen? How many were chicks?
• During what summer (year) did RwR-B produce its first chick?
• When was RwR-B's nest first observed? Do you think it was RwR-B's first nest?
• How many young have been produced?
• For how many seasons does RwR-B seem to stay with a chick?
• How long was RwR-B seen staying with chick G-Y? With YbY-Y?
• Which period of time shows no record of chicks produced?
• "Most chicks make the spring migration all the way back to Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park with the parents. But once in a while, the parents and chick will separate during migration or even on the wintering ground." Which sighting is an example of this?
• What questions do you think the scientists still have, even after collecting all of these years of data? What questions do you have?
  Band Data from Whooping Crane RwR-B