Tennessee and Florida Students Learn About Whooping Cranes

Like Gilchrist Elementary in Tallahassee, FL, many schools along the eastern crane flyway have been learning about Whooping Cranes this fall and winter. As the young Whooping Cranes completed their first fall migration through the eastern United States, ICF's Outreach Coordinator, Joan Garland, visited schools to share stories and updates on the migration and Whooping Crane conservation. Following are three images from Joan's school visits in Tennessee and Florida. If you would like to share photos or updates from your classroom activities, please email your images and stories to trackingcranes@savingcranes.org.

A student models a crane costume, designed to hide the human form from young Whooping Cranes, at Citrus Springs Middle School, Citrus Springs, FL.

Students learn about Whooping Cranes at McCallie Elementary School, Chatanooga, TN.

Joan and a student volunteer explain the use of the crane costume at Hammett Bowen Elementary School, Ocala, FL.

Gilchrist Elementary Celebrates Arrival of Whooping Cranes to Florida

This week we return to our crane flyway in the eastern United States to celebrate the Florida arrival of the 14 ultra-light led Whooping Cranes in the Class of 2008. We received an email from Gilchrist Elementary School in Tallahassee, Florida, who shared how they are welcoming the Whooping Cranes to neighboring St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge. The students, with the aid of artist Dan Dancer from "Art For the Sky" created a Whooping Crane image on their school grounds by standing together in the shape of a crane (each dot on the crane's body is a student or teacher wearing white or black - also notice the students forming the border around the crane!). Photo by Bob O'Lary

The Gilchrist student's art is an important reminder of our responsibility to protect the wetlands that the Whooping Cranes depend upon in Florida and along the entire flyway north to Wisconsin. On February 2, students throughout the world will celebrate World Wetlands Day, an annual celebration supported by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (an international treaty for wetland protection). The theme of this year's celebration is "Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands Connect Us All." Click here to download a World Wetland's Day poster, brochure, do-it-yourself frog, 20 questions for kids and teachers, and wetlands comics.

Ramsar has also released a new video, “Wetlands: keeping our planet alive and well." The long version is about 4.5 minutes, and the short version is about 1.5 minutes. The files are in QuickTime .MOV format (click here to download the free QuickTime software). Click on he links below to view the video (you may need to wait a few moments while the video is downloading, but it should start playing automatically if you have QuickTime on your computer).

Long version English (30MB) http://www.ramsar.org/ramsar_video_2008_long_e.mov
Short version English (12MB) http://www.ramsar.org/ramsar_video_2008_short_e.mov

Long version Spanish (30 MB) http://www.ramsar.org/ramsar_video_2008_long_s.mov
Short version Spanish (12 MB) http://www.ramsar.org/ramsar_video_2008_short_s.mov

Fall Migration Ends

In the last few weeks we received new location data from our banded Siberian Cranes confirming that both birds have arrived on their wintering area in the Poyang Lake Basin (Jiangxi Province, China)! On November 25, we received a location for No. 59947 from the wintering area, and on December 6 we received a location for No. 59948 from a nearby area in the Poyang Lake Basin (see below image).

We will continue to update our online migration map during the winter, and we hope that you can join us in the spring as we follow the banded cranes on their return migration north to Russia. Researchers studying the banded cranes are excited to see what habitats the cranes use during the winter (do they use areas with high water or low water, etc.?), and they are especially interested to learn where the banded chicks return in the spring (do they return to the breeding areas in northeastern Russia or spend the summer in a different area?).

We also wanted to share with you some great images from the fall migration on birdnet.cn, a blog for birders to share information and news about birds in China.

Click on the following link to view images from Huanzidong Reservoir, Liaoning Province http://www.birdnet.cn/bbs/thread-34527-1-1.html (check out our blog posting from mid November on Huanzidong Reservoir for more information on this site).

A single Siberian Crane was also sighted in Zhejiang Province in eastern China on November 28, 2008. Click here, http://www.birdnet.cn/bbs/thread-36092-1-1.html, to view several up-close images of this beautiful bird.

A Week in the Life of a Crane

As we wait to receive new location data from our two banded Siberian Cranes, we thought it would be fun to share with you a few more details about where the Siberian Cranes stopped to rest in Liaoning Province earlier this month.

Our first crane, No. 59947, spent at least 12 days (October 31 - November 11) near a large, shallow water reservoir (Wolong Lake). The reservoir is on the west side of Kanping City (the local county seat) in central Liaoning Province. In the past, the water in the reservoir was between 1.5-3.5 m deep; but, in 2003, the reservoir completely dried out and there was no more water. The local goverment started storing water back in the reservoir in late 2005, and the reservoir was set up as a provincial nature reserve when it was restored (a provincial reserve is similar to a state park in the United States). Most of the reservoir was covered by aquatic plants in very shallow water, especially at the southern end. In spring 2008, 800 Siberian Cranes were observed at the reservoir during annual waterbird surveys. Red-crowned Cranes and Swan Geese have also been observed at the reservoir.

The image above shows the locations of No. 59947 as it moved around the reservoir in early November (click on the image to view a larger version of the map).

At the same time, between October 30 - November 2, No. 59948 moved to southeastern Inner Mongolia, about 60 km southeast of Tongliao City. This location is in the southern part of the Keerqin Desert. There are many sand dunes and also many small lakes and ponds in the desert . The location of the banded crane is by one of those shallow lakes (click on the picture below to view a larger version of the map).

On November 6 No. 59948 moved south and stopped along the Yellow Sea coast in Liaoning Province. This location is right on the salt marsh (pictures below) near the mouth of the Daling River. Click on the image below to view a larger version of the map.

We thank Dr. Su Lying and Jim Harris for submitting this information and images.

Huanzidong Reservoir, Liaoning Province

This week, we received an exciting update on the Siberian Crane fall migration in eastern China from Mr. Zhou Haixiang, who recently visited Huanzidong Reservoir in Liaoning Province. Huanzidong Reservoir is located northwest of Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning. Our last location for No. 59947 from November 10th places this crane near the reservoir. Meanwhile, No. 59948 arrived on the northern shore of the Bo Hai Sea on November 5th. The Bo Hai Sea is an important "rest stop" for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds in eastern China. To learn more about this area, check out our fact sheet and PowerPoint presentation on Tianjin, the third largest city in China on the western shores of Bo Hai.

"The Siberian Crane flock size at the migration stopover site in Huanzidong Reservoir in central Liaoning Province, China, gradually increased from over 20 birds in early October, up to 430 birds on November 5. On November 6, most of the cranes left the area to continue their southern migration (photos 1-3 below). Over a hundred Siberian Cranes remain at the site (photo 4 below). About 10% of the remaining cranes are chicks from this year (maybe one of our banded chicks was in this flock!). Mr. Zhou said that normally Siberian Cranes leave Huanzidong in late October, and by early November all of the cranes are gone. This fall the cranes are leaving later than in other years.

Besides Siberian Cranes, on November 5, 44 Hooded Cranes were observed at the site. These cranes left for the south the same day (photo 5 below). Flocks of Oriental White Storks have been arriving at the site in small groups of 20-50 birds, and left in October for the south."

We thank Dr. Su Liying for sending us this report and Mr. Zhou Haixiang for allowing us to post his beautiful images.

Student Camps in Northeast China

The two banded Siberian Cranes that we are tracking this fall are currently located in Northeast China near several wetland nature reserves that are involved in our Three White Cranes project. This area is an important migration "rest stop" for Siberian Cranes, which may gather in large flocks of over over one thousand birds to rest and feed before continuing their migration. The image below was taken by Russian researcher, Sergei Sleptsov, in October 2007 at Momoge Nature Reserve in northwestern Jilin Province. Perhaps our two banded cranes have stopped to rest in this same area as they journey south this fall!

Since 2000, the International Crane Foundation has partnered with nature reserves in Russia and China to host international environmental camps at the wetland reserves used by the migrating cranes. Summer camps are a strong tradition in both countries, and through this project we are able to combine this tradition with learning about the environment and cranes. Through these camps, teachers and students from the United States, Russia and China learn about wetlands and cranes, along with their shared responsibility in protecting these valuable resources.

This summer, four American teachers from Milwaukee and Racine WI, along with educators from the Amur Region in southeastern Russia, traveled to Northeast China to participate in two student camps at the Xianghai and Keerqin Nature Reserves. Nearly 50 Chinese students and 21 teachers and reserve staff participated in the Xianghai camp, which included training for the local teachers prior to the student activities and focused on the themes of water, wetlands, forests and waterbirds. Following the Xianghai camp, the Russian and American teachers traveled to neighboring Keerqin Nature Reserve to help lead a second camp for 20 local students.

Following are several images from the teacher training and student camp held in July 2008 at the Xianghai reserve (photos by Zhang Juan). To learn more about the Xianghai camp activities, read our previous post Crane Art Six Meters Long...Brings Students Together.

Crane Days in Southern Yakutia

By Masha Vladimirtseva

This fall is very special because of two young Siberian Cranes who have their special task to carry PTTs (satellite transmitters for tracking the birds) and show their migration routes to the world.

Three people from our Institute went to southern Yakutia to watch and count Siberian Cranes along the flyway and transit stops in middle to late September. But I also had another goal – the education work in local schools and participation in Crane Days of the local schools. On September 25, we went to the school in Petropavlosk, and on September 26, we visited a school in Ust-Maya. More than 100 students were involved in the Crane Day activities.

There were several very fascinating shows in both schools performed by the students (below), and in Ust-Maya a group of older people from the settlement participated in the celebration. I gave my presentation on our Three White Cranes, Two Flyways, One World project. The students especially liked the Siberian Crane calls that I had taped at the International Crane Foundation – the cranes call very loudly!



In Ust-Maya we also discussed with teachers the summer camp held at the Chabda Resource Reserve in 2008. Students from the Ust-Maya school had a great experience to spend time on the nesting territory of the Hooded Crane and transit territory of the Siberian Crane. The students could watch Hooded Cranes flying over the Chabda Reserve building and hear the cranes’ calls. They liked the wooden models of Siberian Cranes made by ornithologist Vasily Okoneshnikov to attract real cranes to the feeding grounds during their migration.

On September 28-30, using bear trails in the tightly grown forest, we visited two bird observation points. The observation areas were built by inspector Peter Tokumov, who monitors the Siberian Crane migration every fall and spring. The first was a very high (15 m) wooden ladder with a small viewing deck, built on a hill. The second was a small blind for hiding from the wind made from stones and built on another hill. Both observation points were built about 4 km from each other, on either side of the Siberian Crane flyway.

On October 1, we conducted a Crane Day celebration in the Okhotski Perevoz school. The settlement is on both banks of the Aldan River and to reach the school we had to be transported to the right bank. This school includes just 25 students. We presented a “Crane Day” banner to the school. We showed them the Crane Day presentation and many crane pictures and videos, and talked with them. All of the students see migrating cranes every fall and spring. All of the children were rewarded with pins, stickers and posters. The young artists who presented their pictures for the website were rewarded with books and and other prizes.

That night, we saw our first flock of seven Siberian Cranes, with two young. On October 2 we saw two flocks of nine and 19 Siberian Cranes. We saw many more cranes the next day. While returning to the school, we met three local men who also counted cranes. They wrote digits (counting results) carved with a knife on fire wood. In the school, we showed our just taken photos to the children. Some of them had seen these birds, also. We continued to count Siberian Cranes flying over Okhotski Perevoz and counted 798 individuals. Some people could see these cranes far from the settlement.

Fall Migration Field Update

Masha Vladimirtseva emailed us yesterday with news from the field about the Siberian Crane fall migration. Masha and members of the Tomponski Inspection of Nature Protection counted 798 migrating Siberian Cranes (nearly 20% of the eastern population!) between October 1 - 6 in Tomponski Ulus in southern Yakutia. This is close to the recent locations of the two banded chicks that we are following this fall (view the migration map at www.scwp.info/imaps.html).

During the survey the researchers stayed with Rosa and Alexey Zelepukhin, local residents who watch the migration every year and give their reports to Masha's Institute in Yakutsk. Their survey location was 1 km to the west of Okhotski Perevoz, on the left bank of the Aldan River.

On October, 3, the group visited the head of Okhotski Perevoz's Administration, Vasili Federov. While discussing the Three White Cranes project with Masha and her colleagues, he received a telephone call and learned from a local woman that Siberian Cranes were flying over the Administration building. They jumped out of the building and counted 11 flocks of 8 to 80 cranes, including chicks. During just 10 minutes they saw 481 Siberian Cranes.