St. Marks Wildlife Refuge Home to Whopping Cranes

   On a cold, winter day in January of 2009, the citizens of St. Marks as well as hundreds of visitors were able

   to witness the flyover of a small band of whopping cranes that will be spending their winter at the St. Marks

   Wildlife Refuge.  Even though it was very cold, the sky was devoid of clouds and perfect for distance

   viewing.

   The cranes accompanied by three ultra light planes flew over our small community around 8:30 a.m. on

    Saturday, January 17th.

  This project began a few years ago when, Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge (Chassy) was chosen as 

  the site for the Florida whopping crane re-introduction.  Tragedy struck when approximately three years ago a large storm and surge caused the death of all but one crane.  As a result, the management team decided they needed to split the flock in case any one area had an unforeseen problem that could endanger the lives of the birds.   The hunt was on for another Florida refuge and the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge became the top choice.  This past summer (2008), this site became official and the selection of a pen site in an undisclosed location began.  (You may see photos of the pen by going to the official site and then click the link for January 15, 2009. http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html )

Fourteen crane chicks were hatched out over the summer at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.  Even before they are hatched, recordings of the sound of the planes are played to the eggs.  The handlers wear "crane disguises" and keep silent to lessen the exposure to humans.  

So they hatched, they grew, and finally on October 17, 2008, they began their journey - they didn't want to go.  The first day was a short flight just to get them away from familiar territory but their biological clocks told them it wasn't quite time yet.  Nonetheless, most did finally and faithfully stick to their plane parent and others had to be crated and trucked to their first sleep out site.  Weather was not on their side during the trip and there were many, many “no-fly” days.  The cranes were expected in Florida in early December but it took three months to the day for them to arrive.  As one of the pilots explained, "The planes can fly in somewhat turbulent weather and the cranes can certainly fly in worse weather but they can't fly together in fog or unstable winds."

While waiting at their staging area in Jefferson County, the birds were separated into two enclosures for half of the fourteen birds were destined for Chassy.  Soon after dawn on Saturday, January 17, 2009 the decision was made - they would fly! This would be the first time the crew had ever split a flock and they weren't sure what to expect.  The birds seemed to adapt ok and were more concerned, the pilots said, about flying west away from the sun rather than heading straight south as they had become used to doing. 

Finally a little smudge on the horizon was spotted and then another and then one with a faint line of birds following.  The crowd was positively reverent when the plane led the birds over their heads as people watched along the river side in St. Marks as the birds and their pilots made their final decent to the crane’s winter home.

You'll see from the photos that when the birds left in October, they wore their mottled brown and white juvenile plumage but are now looking less brown and whiter.  By next year, there is hope to have two video cameras (Crane Cams) installed at the pen with live feeds back to the Visitor's Center (National Geographic said they would host the feed on their Web site).  The Coins for Cranes donation jars raised almost $500 toward the cameras - only several thousand more to go!

For the first few days the cranes will be held in the top covered enclosure until they've had their final vet check and permanent identifying leg bands attached. Then they'll be released and the theory is that they will leave the pen to forage during the day and return at night for safety.  So while the cameras (equipped with night time vision and joy sticks so they can be manipulated) will not keep the birds in view all the time, at least a glimpse now and then will be great.

Sometime in late February or early March, the birds will begin to think about Wisconsin and head back to Necedah.  And over the summer the Class of 2009 will be hatched and acclimated to the planes and their weird looking attendants. Next October the cranes and planes will take to the air and head south again. The pen at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge will be waiting.  In another few years, maybe we'll begin to see adults free and wild in the marshes of the refuge.