A Week in the Life of a Crane

As we wait to receive new location data from our two banded Siberian Cranes, we thought it would be fun to share with you a few more details about where the Siberian Cranes stopped to rest in Liaoning Province earlier this month.

Our first crane, No. 59947, spent at least 12 days (October 31 - November 11) near a large, shallow water reservoir (Wolong Lake). The reservoir is on the west side of Kanping City (the local county seat) in central Liaoning Province. In the past, the water in the reservoir was between 1.5-3.5 m deep; but, in 2003, the reservoir completely dried out and there was no more water. The local goverment started storing water back in the reservoir in late 2005, and the reservoir was set up as a provincial nature reserve when it was restored (a provincial reserve is similar to a state park in the United States). Most of the reservoir was covered by aquatic plants in very shallow water, especially at the southern end. In spring 2008, 800 Siberian Cranes were observed at the reservoir during annual waterbird surveys. Red-crowned Cranes and Swan Geese have also been observed at the reservoir.

The image above shows the locations of No. 59947 as it moved around the reservoir in early November (click on the image to view a larger version of the map).

At the same time, between October 30 - November 2, No. 59948 moved to southeastern Inner Mongolia, about 60 km southeast of Tongliao City. This location is in the southern part of the Keerqin Desert. There are many sand dunes and also many small lakes and ponds in the desert . The location of the banded crane is by one of those shallow lakes (click on the picture below to view a larger version of the map).

On November 6 No. 59948 moved south and stopped along the Yellow Sea coast in Liaoning Province. This location is right on the salt marsh (pictures below) near the mouth of the Daling River. Click on the image below to view a larger version of the map.

We thank Dr. Su Lying and Jim Harris for submitting this information and images.

Golda Meir Craniacs

Jan Weiler, 3rd grade teacher at Golda Meir School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently sent us several pictures from her class field trip to the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in October. Jan noted that it was a cool, cloudy day with the students at ICF and in the field in Briggsville, WI, where they learned about the mission of ICF, the cranes on display in the ICF exhibit area, and cranes in the wild in Briggsville, where they saw Sandhill Cranes in newly cut fields.

The students gathered in the ICF Visitor Center to begin their tour - check out their Golda Meir Craniacs hats!

The class then met up with Joan Garland, ICF's Outreach Coordinator, for the tour of ICF. The students learned how scientists dress in a crane costume while raising Whooping Cranes for release into the wild, so the chicks do not imprint on humans.

The students also talked with Zhang Juan, educator from Beijing Brooks Education Center, who taught the students about the migration of Siberian and Red-crowned Cranes in East Asia. Zhang Juan was in Wisconsin for the teacher exchange portion of the Three White Cranes project.

On the way home to Milwaukee, the class stopped at Neenah Creek Elementary School in Briggsville, WI to talk with Anne Lacy, ICF's Sandhill Crane Project Manager. She showed the students how she tracks cranes banded with radio transmitters and studies them in the wild.

Thank you to Jan and her class for sharing their experience with us! If you would like to share a story about a recent class activity or project, please email us at trackingcranes@savingcranes.org.

Huanzidong Reservoir, Liaoning Province

This week, we received an exciting update on the Siberian Crane fall migration in eastern China from Mr. Zhou Haixiang, who recently visited Huanzidong Reservoir in Liaoning Province. Huanzidong Reservoir is located northwest of Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning. Our last location for No. 59947 from November 10th places this crane near the reservoir. Meanwhile, No. 59948 arrived on the northern shore of the Bo Hai Sea on November 5th. The Bo Hai Sea is an important "rest stop" for hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds in eastern China. To learn more about this area, check out our fact sheet and PowerPoint presentation on Tianjin, the third largest city in China on the western shores of Bo Hai.

"The Siberian Crane flock size at the migration stopover site in Huanzidong Reservoir in central Liaoning Province, China, gradually increased from over 20 birds in early October, up to 430 birds on November 5. On November 6, most of the cranes left the area to continue their southern migration (photos 1-3 below). Over a hundred Siberian Cranes remain at the site (photo 4 below). About 10% of the remaining cranes are chicks from this year (maybe one of our banded chicks was in this flock!). Mr. Zhou said that normally Siberian Cranes leave Huanzidong in late October, and by early November all of the cranes are gone. This fall the cranes are leaving later than in other years.

Besides Siberian Cranes, on November 5, 44 Hooded Cranes were observed at the site. These cranes left for the south the same day (photo 5 below). Flocks of Oriental White Storks have been arriving at the site in small groups of 20-50 birds, and left in October for the south."

We thank Dr. Su Liying for sending us this report and Mr. Zhou Haixiang for allowing us to post his beautiful images.

Wetland Research in Northeast China

As the banded Siberian Cranes continue to move through Northeast China, our blog posting this week focuses on the region's wetlands. The following update is by Dr. Su Liying (pictured in the front of the boat in the image below), who is studying the wetlands on the Songnen Plain, an important area for waterbirds (our banded chicks have rested in this area over the last few weeks). Liying is working with Chinese colleagues to survey the plants and wetlands within Zhalong Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province. Through this project, researchers are mapping the ditches and dikes within the reserve (developed to move water to nearby cities) to help design water releases that benefit the wetlands and waterbirds, such as cranes.

While working in the wetlands, researchers must walk on mats of vegetation (below), which can be very difficult!

"In recent years, with growing human demands for water, many wetlands are shrinking in northern China, and some are disappearing. I have studied the wetlands on the Songnen Plain (below), important for cranes and other waterbirds in the breeding season and for Siberian Cranes stopping on migration to and from the Siberian tundra where they breed. Satellite images make it clear that, aside from Zhalong Marsh, the largest of these wetlands now lie near Daqing. In particular, sizable wetlands lie north of Daqing Reservoir and extend east to Hongqi Reservoir. These wetlands have survived and grown, due to the protection of the city's sources of drinking water and gradual seepage from the reservoirs. A broad range of wet meadows and grasslands lie adjacent. Varying rainfall creates dynamic shifts each year among open water lakes, reed marshes, wet meadows, and grasslands providing different types of habitat for many birds.

These wetlands play a similar role to well known wetlands, such as the wetlands within the Zhalong and Xianghai Nature Reserves. Last fall, I was lucky to visit Daqing and see Siberian, Red-crowned, Hooded and White-naped Cranes with many other species of ducks and migratory birds. Now these wetlands are being considered for protection, for the sake of the migratory cranes and other birds."