The Future

Day One of the Texas photo adventure was a success in every way.  We saw so many Whooping Cranes, as well as many other birds.  We are in this location three full days with mornings being spent on the intercostal waterway searching for the endangered cranes and afternoons at a private location with a blind for both whoopers and sandhill cranes.  We met at the doc at 7 this morning and spent the next 4 hours on the water.  The morning started foggy but soon enough the fog cleared and we had a nice overcast sky with good light.  The afternoon we didn't go to the hide until 3 so although the sun was out, it was low enough to provide lovely light.  This image was taken at the hide and features a Whooping Crane colt (baby hatched last summer) and one of the parents who kept a close eye on the youngster at all times.  The colt, when it hatched would have been an even brown color allowing it to blend in to its surroundings.  It has now almost finished molting into adult plumage although still has a brown head and some scattered brown feathers on the body.

Whooping cranes are on the Endangered list but they are slowly making a comeback.  In the 1940's there were only 20 individual birds left in the wild.  Now there are approximately 500 birds in the wild.  With careful stewardship they may someday be taken off the Endangered list.  

Whooping cranes are North America's largest bird, standing nearly 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 7-8 feet.  They are omnivores, eating aquatic invertebrates (crabs and the like), small vertebrates, roots, acorns and berries.  In spite of their size, they weigh less than 20 pounds with a third of that weight being feathers.

So there are some fun facts about the stunning Whoopers.  

I'm now off to bed as we have a very early start tomorrow - meeting in the lobby at 6:15.  

Adios from Texas!