A quest for Whooping Cranes

Editor's note: John Lawrence Hanson, Ed.D., of Marion teaches U.S. history with an emphasis on environmental issues at Linn-Mar High School. Dr. Hanson will be teaching in Norway for the 2015-2016 school year on a Fulbright Scholarship. One of his feature lessons will be the history of conservation in America with the Whooping Crane as the case study.

By John Lawrence Hanson, community contributor

A pair of eagles tangled their talons and plunged to the earth. I took it as a good omen.

I only believe in luck after the fact, when it turns out well. This time I was willing to be hopeful in advance. Traveling at a mile a minute over the Mississippi River in Dubuque didn't afford me the opportunity to stare and be contemplative. Behind the wheel I had to focus on the future.

The first time I saw a Whooping Crane was during a grade school field trip to the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis. I knew, even at a tender age, that 'whoopers” were rare and special. That, coupled with my interest in birds, made the field trip much anticipated. I rounded the fence to the Whopping Crane enclosure and a very tall bird startled me with its wings extended, advancing toward me. I fumbled with my 110 Kodak and missed the shot. Yet, the picture was seared in my mind and I knew I had to discover again that bird.

My first attempt to see the young Whooping Cranes rebuilding the flock in the Mississippi Flyway was aborted. I had driven almost 250 miles to these seeds of hope, only to have erratic winds cancel training. Since 2001 Operation Migration has been teaching incubator hatched Whooping Cranes a safe route from Wisconsin to Florida to create a self-sustaining flock in its historic range, a range that included Iowa.

This July I drove north again, leaving at 3:45 a.m. for Berlin, Wis. I was lucky to have a curious partner in my mother who welcomed the opportunity to wake at an unconscionable hour on the chance to see rare feathers.

Like the year before, I pulled up to the White River Marsh. Doug, a crane caretaker waited with us for the other participants. The sky was clear and the air was calm. Finally my date with avian destiny was due. Another caretaker arrived with news that winds aloft were strong. Alas, he was right. As soon as we pulled into the secure parking area the rustling Aspens confirmed my fear.

And yet as my heart sank white birds in flight caught my eye.

'Cranes in view! O! the joy!” - to re-quote explorer William Clark. A pair of mature Whooping Cranes flew past the now gawking party. Digital cameras whirred and then they were gone. I had one good picture and a satisfied soul. I later learned that particular pair was dubbed The Royal Couple by regular watchers.

The handlers led us to the blind to watch them feed and attend to the colts in the netted pen. The handlers looked like a cross between radiation-avoiding spacemen and not quite ready for prime-time children's entertainers. Afterward, Doug kept apologizing for the scrubbed flight training. The sensory treats I enjoyed needed no regrets. A parting gift came as we prepared to drive away. The Royal Couple made a second flyby in the company of a small flock of Sandhill Cranes.

Epilogue

Operation Migration is a not-for-profit that conducts the training of colts and leads them by ultralight aircraft to Florida. They are part of a consortium of public and private organizations called the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. You can secure an invitation to the training site by visiting their website. Whooping Cranes once nested in Iowa but settlement made the state inhospitable to these charismatic birds.

However, 'whoopers” from Wisconsin have made occasional visits to Iowa. We should be hopeful that as the Wisconsin flock increases, so too should our chance to host some of these national treasures. Just this year, the first nesting pair of Sandhill Cranes was documented in Linn County in more than a century. I'd like to believe we won't have to wait another 100 years for a another historic Iowa birth.