Whoops then Brags

Suspect most of our readers know my long training runs are used to work out upcoming posts. There is plenty of “noodle time” to come up with a theme and decide on the best supporting series of shots from the tiny sliver of backlog in the image queue. Did you just chuckle, I heard you chuckle!..okay, maybe “three year” backlog would be a more accurate description. Too my credit I have tried to stay in that 1 to 1.5 year range over the last year or so, but I digress. Arrived at the trail yesterday, stretched, looked at the forecast, noted the heat index and prepared to be miserable for the next several hours. That is when I noticed every post was absolutely covered in Cicadas, some partially in and others fully out of their shells. The holes had been noticeable in the trail dirt for about a week or so, but had not really noticed them out – they have now formally arrived. There was an unfortunate Cicada that had emerged, but then apparently “smacked” into lifelessness. The thought of waiting 17 years (granted some are on a 13yr cycle), digging yourself out of the ground, graduating from nymphood into adulthood and then “splat” consumed me for the multitude of miles – futility, mortality, lifespan, purpose, the lockers at the end of Men in Black and a cadre of other topics since sweated out. I mention this only as an excuse for completely forgetting about working out the post.

Soooo…. Whoopers it is!

Hit the jump to read more about these birds that nearly met the same fate as that unfortunate insect.

The Whooping Crane has the distinction of being the “trigger” species for my renewed dip into birding. Ron and I had done some feather hunting together during my high school years, but college then stressful career forced me to put the film shooting Nikon into storage. It wasn’t until later in adulthood when Linda and I rode the digital wave back out into the field. One of those first trips was to visit Rockport, TX in hopes of seeing one of those endangered members of the Whooping Crane family.

We had never seen this intriguing Crane and after reading about their storied recovery, we were excited to get the opportunity to encounter one. I remember to this day walking up to the hotel clerk and being asked what exciting things we had planned. “We heard there were Whoopers hear and we want to shoot one”. The look on her face accurately displayed the shock she was feeling…”I mean take pictures of”. An audible sigh of relief was followed by a large smile. Linda proceeded to give her the background on how we were hoping to find the rare bird and mentioned we were heading to Aransas NWR in and attempt to find one.

Then the clerk pulled out a small map and changed our fortunes ever since. She pointed to Aransas NWR on the map and then dragged her pencil across St. Charles Bay and circled a spot near Goose Island SP labeled “The Big Tree”.

That was the only details she really provided before completing our check-in and welcoming us to the city. To be honest, we were a bit skeptical and there were crazy thoughts that The Big Tree was code for “shake down the out of towners”.

We did some research and sure enough, the Big Tree is an official historical landmark being one of the largest living Live Oaks in the States. This tree is estimated to be between 1 to 2 thousand years old and according to Wikipedia, believed to have “survived from anywhere between forty and fifty major hurricanes”. I can confirm with absolute certainty it survived Harvey (2017) with little damage as we were there and witnessed the resulting devastation – yet there the Big Tree still stood with the surrounding area nearly leveled – I talk a bit about that in my previous Whooper post back in 2020 (link here).

I remember when that hit and first focused our thoughts on the fortunes of the residents then eventually pondering about the potential impact to the Whoopers, a species that was down to a mere 21 specimens back in 1941. I did just look up the survey results from the 2022-2023 wintering Aransas NWR-Wood Buffalo National Park population and that now sits at 536 – just slightly down from 543 from the year before, but up 30 from the year before that – the survey went back to 2015 with a population of 463. According to Crane Trust, the total population including captive and other re-introduction locations is just over 800. Still at a perilous number and the thought of a hurricane impacting that number was disheartening. Fortunately, the hurricane hit in August and we learned they had not returned from their Canada migration. As a note, we are members of the International Crane Foundation located in Baraboo, WI. If you are ever in that area, highly recommend dropping in and checking out their establishment, complete with a variety of Crane species from around the world and many sources (volunteers, films, etc.) that will educate you on everything you wanted to know about their conservation efforts.

I indicated earlier that this Crane was my trigger bird. We did indeed go to the Big Tree and sure enough, the clerk was correct as several were standing in a nearby field. We were absolutely in awe at the size and beauty of these birds. At that time several were wearing bands or emitters like the specimen above. Then another pair flew in with a juvenile – no bands, no trackers – these were truly wild and likely surviving against the odds sans human intervention. I was hooked and here we are today. This series of shots was also taken at the Big Tree in January of 2023 – a few tagged, but most without! We will never tire of seeing the tallest bird in North America.

Just how tall, well how does around 5 feet hit ya (my guess for many of us right in the neck ha). Add in ~7.5 foot wingspan and you start getting visions of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons. A White-Faced Ibis happened to be hunting the same field that year. With a bit of luck, I patiently waited for it to eventually make its way near enough to the Crane so I could get the two in the same frame. It is more likely you have seen one of the Ibisis, Ibice, Ibisses..wait, let me look it up – okay, officially Ibises (good to know) and familiar with their size as a reference for the Crane in the shot above.

Admittedly, I was waiting for a “dust up” for a good action shot, but this particular specimen was busy keeping an eye on the other two Cranes it was with while taking quick glances a little further off to the right. I didn’t realize what was holding its attention until this hopped into view.

Their juvi was hopping, bouncing, dancing and generally just being one happy bird about 100 feet away. Far enough for the parents to let it spread its wings, but close enough to deter anything bold enough to take on a formidable bird. Note, I was cursing that fence the entire time as I couldn’t find an angle to clip it out of the shot. Ironically, these shots of the “happy kid” brings me full circle back to the run reflection initiated by the dead Cicada.

Now that I am done “Whooping” it up, time for some BRAGS! In a previous post, I mentioned Linda was running the boys at the Canine Performance Events Nationals last week. I’ll leave the results of that for a future post, but I did want to congratulate Linda, Raven and Ruger on their performance in the agility competition leading up to the nations.

Both Raven (above) and Ruger (below) earned new titles. For Raven it was his UKC Grand Championship (UGRACH) 4 title and for Ruger it was his Intermediate Agility (IA) Title.

Ruger has a looooong way to make it to his brother’s level, but he was busy strutting around the house showing his medal off to anyone in the vicinity

Ruger: “I’m comin’ for ya Raven!”
Raven: “Talk to the paw kid and get back to me whenever you make it to the championship level…did I mention I have FOUR of them.”
Ruger: “Oh yeah, well Mommy says I’m the best”
Mommy: “Ruger, stop sassing your brothers”

Hope you enjoyed the latest set of Whooper shots! Take care and hopefully nothing “smacks” you as you are climbing out of your metaphorical shell.