GOOD NEWS

Scot SW lives in an area of Michigan where there are many sandhill cranes in the summer. In Florida we have often seen them during our winter trips. So, these cranes seem to be doing very well, are very familar to us, and we always appreciate the chance to spend time watching them.

Whooping cranes, unfortunately, haven't been as prolific as they once were. I can remember once, many years ago, my father telling us that a great flock of them had stopped at the Shiawassee Wildlife refuge (before it had been declared a refuge and was known as "the Prairie Farm" or just the "Shiawassee Flats) in central Michigan near Saginaw. In recent years, however, they are not often seen. Their numbers had fallen almost to extinction levels.



Now here is some good news. "Once down to about 15, the world's only naturally migrating flock of whooping cranes has continued its comeback, now numbering a record 237 birds in wintering grounds along Texas' Gulf Coast."

Read about it here: CLICK FOR CRANES

It was also reported that a pair of whooping cranes was seen at the Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in Florida this Christmas. When we were there, we were not lucky enough to spot them.