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Travels with George: Florida 2014

Late Sunday afternoon of January 5, 2014, while Baraboo was in the grips of an extremely cold winter, I had the privilege of meeting my friends and conservationists, Colin and Anne Phipps, near Tallahassee, Florida. We were waiting, in company with about 40 others, for a pair of Whooping Cranes to land beside a large pond in a cow pasture near balmy Tallahassee.

Travels with George: Thailand Fall 2013

Mid-morning, November 25, Thai colleagues and I are observing a pair of yearling Eastern Sarus Cranes digging and swallowing large sedge tubers from a harvested rice paddy near the Jorakae Non-hunting Area. To farmers, the sedges are weeds and thus killed by herbicides. So perhaps the cranes are, in a small way, helping the farmers. Suddenly an elderly man appeared riding a bicycle along the dirt road. His name was Mr. Nhu Pogang, and he has been a resident of this area for all of his 83 years. In his youth, the region was mostly forested with open wetlands in low-lying areas and cranes were common.

Young Whooping Cranes Begin Fall Migration

Nineteen young Whooping Cranes are winging their way south on their first fall migration. This is the 13th group of birds to take part in the project led by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP), a coalition of public and private groups that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America, part of its historic range.

DAR Whooping Cranes Released at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge

Nine young Whooping Cranes were released October 24 at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Dodge County, Wis. The cranes are part of the Direct Autumn Release project conducted by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, an international coalition of public and private organizations that is reintroducing this highly imperiled species in eastern North America, part of its historic range.