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| Three of the migrating whooping cranes preen themselves while spending the afternoon in one of the Beehunter units at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area. |
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| Whooping cranes #313 and #318 take wing. |
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| #408 and #519 go through a courtship dance as a group of white pelicans lounge in one of the Goose Pond marshes. |
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Whooping crane #318 gives Outdoor News Editor Mark Crowley and upclose and personal view as the whooper spends the afternoon feeding in a harvested cornfield near the Beehunter Marsh. The colored leg bands are used to identify individual birds from a distance and indicates the bird’s sex and age. |
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A portion of the marsh is alive with sandhill cranes that were estimated to be close to 5,000 in number.
The Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area was a stopover for a large migration of cranes in March. While the sandhills are quite common, it was the whooping cranes that drew the attention of bird watchers from throughout the Midwest as one of the nation’s rarest of birds stopped for more than a week during their migration north. |
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| Three whooping cranes share a cut cornfield with some sandhill cranes. A total of 10 whooping cranes stopped at the Goose Pond during their migration north. |
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| A group of sandhill cranes feed in wet cornfield near the Goose Pond FWA. |
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| Two sandhill cranes have their legs down as they land in the Beehunter Marsh at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area. An estimated 5,000 sandhills made a stop at the property in March. |
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| Whooping crane #313 spreads her wings in courtship with her mate #318. |
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Whooping crane #212 lifts his head to vocalize his distinctive “whoop” for which the birds are known. |
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