Another Great Day with the Whooping Cranes of Lamar

Bob and Lucy, friends of ours, reported that they had seen the whooping crane family, so we decided to make another trip to Lamar. We first drove down Eighth street but did not see any of the majestic birds. Turning south we spotted two whoopers near a feeder. Driving past a pond we first stopped to take a couple quick pictures of a roosting night crowned heron and then turned west onto fourth street. The cat tails had blocked our view of the feeder, but the recent high winds had blown their tall tops down. Getting out of the car and standing up we could easily watch the pair feed. Soon the male spread his wings and seemed to be preparing for flight and after several false attempts both the whoopers sprang into the sir and headed north toward the back bays alongside St Charles Bay.

There was no sign of the family and so we next drove to Big Tree. There were four other birders there including one who had the same Sigma 150/600mm telephoto lens that we use. A beautiful Kestrel landed in a nearby treetop and seemed to pose as he presented us with his best side!

Our next bird was an Eastern wood peewee. It landed on a nearby treetop then hoovered before diving and catching its bug. Returning to the tree top I was able to get a good shot in which you can see the small brightly colored wasp in its beak!

A large flock of sandhill cranes flew by and we could hear their unmistakable calls. It was next followed by the sound of whooping cranes, which is quite a bit different than their Sandhill cousins. Returning to the car we drove along the bay stopping to take a picture of the sandhills. There was an osprey in a treetop, but it was a bit far away and I could not get a decent image. A little further down the road and we both spotted a family of whooping cranes.

As we watched them, we realized it was the family of four birds that we had last seen in December, success at last!

By turning west on Eight street we were able to get quite a bit closer and we started to take hundreds pictures. The problem is that there was a wire fence between us and them and many of my shots focused on the wire. Renita however switched to manual focus and got great shots of the family. We had been told, by a friend, that the juveniles had lost their brown feathers, but Renita pictures showed that both of them still had their mottled brown coloration. There was less brown than last December, but I was still obvious. As they fed, they meandered west.

The male keep a lookout and seemed to be encouraging them to head to a feeder. Finally, he and one of the colts/juveniles leapt into the air and flew over a fence, landing in a field lined with live oaks. The other two joined them and they all walked to a large feeder where they stopped and stared at a nearby house.

Now we do not know it the feeder is on a timer or if someone in the house could remotely work the feeder, but the whoopers stare had worked. Even I could hear the grinding noise as the feeder dropped a load of pellets and the four birds began feeding.

Just as quickly a small flock of sandhills decided to join them. Now the whooping cranes are larger and the dominant birds in their territory and the male spread his wings and chased them away. Still the sand hills remained on the fringe waiting for their opportunity.

The juveniles got their fill and sat down a little way away from the feeder. As it was close to my nap time, we decided to return to our fifth wheel. It had been a great day, spotting and photographing six whooping cranes.

Whooping cranes are an endangered species numbering over five hundred and their flocks have not increased for a while. It has been a great year for blue crabs and that is one of the factors about whether or not crane pairs successfully reproduce. Let us hope this will be a good year. Clear skies