Christy Yuncker Photo Journal

2012 Nesting

• May 1 - Millie and Roy return.
• May 2-7- Dancing, feeding, mating, and exploring.
  For the first few nights, Roy and Millie roost in the valley but after May 6, they roost on the nest territory. Roy repeatedly tests nestbuilding at sites across the cranberry bog.
  Several intruder cranes have been expelled, including a lone crane that could be Hastings, last year's colt.
• May 8 - First egg laid in the evening and incubation begins at nest site very near that of the last few years.
• May 9 - Lone intruder (Hastings?) appeared in bog central. Millie came off the nest and Roy chased the intruder into the valley.   After 11 minues off the egg, Millie returned to incubation duty.
• May 18 - Incubation continues without serious incident, except for a fox that Roy shepherded from the nest territory. 
  An intruder crane has been seen several times at the nest territory and also at the Upper Pond [see map at bottom of Goldstream Local Ecology page]. Roy and Millie chase the intruder from the Upper Pond as well as from the nest site pond. Apparently they defend an extended territory.

Sandhill Crane Festivals

• Sandhill Crane Festival, Wheatfield, IN - September 18, 2011
• BirdFest and Bluegrass, Ridgefield, WA - October 7, 8 & 9, 2011
• Sandhill Crane Festival, Lodi, CA - November 4-6, 2011
• Sandhill Crane Festival, Albuquerque, NM- November 12-13, 2011
• Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, NM - November 15-20, 2011
• Wings over Willcox, AZ - January 11-15, 2012
• Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, Birchwood, TN - January 14-15, 2012
• Monte Vista Crane Festival, San Luis Valley (Alamosa), CO - March 9-11, 2012
• Rivers and Wildlife, Kearney, NE - March 15-18, 2012
• Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, WA - March 23-25 2012
• Faro Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival, Yukon, Canada - May 11-13, 2012
• Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival, Fairbanks, AK - August 24-26, 2012
• Michigan Audubon Crane Fest XVIII, Baker Sanctuary near Battle Creek, MI - October 13 & 14, 2012

Books on cranes that we recommend -

• Johnsgard, Paul A [2011]. Sandhill and Whooping Cranes:  Ancient Voices over America's Wetlands. Lincoln, Nebraska: Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press.


• Forsberg, Michael [2004]. On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America.   Lincoln, Nebraska: Michael Forsberg Photography.


• Didrickson, Betsy [2010]. The Quality of Cranes: A little book of crane lore. Baraboo, WI: International Crane Foundation.


• Johnsgard, Paul A [1981]. Those of the Gray Wind: The Sandhill Cranes.   New York:, Doubleday.


• Johnsgard, Paul A [1983]. Cranes of the World.   Bloomington: Indiana University Press.


• von Treuenfels, Carl-Albrecht [2006]. The Magic of Cranes.   New York: Harry Abrams.


• Crane Wu [2003]. The Propitious Crane.   (Text in Chinese and English).


• Nigge, Klaus [2010]. Whooping Crane: Images from the Wild.   College Station: Texas A&M University Press.


• Matthiessen, Paul [2001]. The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes.  New York: North Point Press.

Crane biology and conservation - all species

• International Crane Foundation
• Paul Johnsgard's Cranes of the World
• USGS Crane Status and Conservation

Sandhill Cranes

• Cranewatch in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
  
• Rowe Sanctuary - the Iain Nicolson Audubon Center
  
• Alaska Bird Observatory
  
• Creamer's Field Refuge in Fairbanks, Alaska
  
• Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
  
• Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge
  
• Sandhill Crane Connections (with many links)
  

Hooded Cranes

• The story of hooded crane in Heilongjiang Province, China

Whooping Cranes

• Whooping Crane Trust in Nebraska
• Karine Gil's AOU poster on family history and migration behavior
• Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Siberian Cranes

• Siberian Crane Wetland Project
• Siberian Crane Flyway Coordination
• Oka Nature Reserve
  
• Crane links on Rob Belterman's Archiv

Why this website?

After we moved from Vermont to 40 acres of taiga in Interior Alaska, we found that a pair of Sandhill Cranes had prior claim to our sphagnum/sedge/cranberry bog. Google satellite views of the habitat are shown on this website.

We have been privileged to watch these Goldstream Valley cranes for over a decade. This photojournal and the Alaska Sandhill Crane Blog grew from our acquaintance with the crane pair whom we know as Millie and Roy.

Cranes are statuesque, sometimes boisterous, and often secretive - iconic inhabitants of grasslands and marshlands in Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and North America. Year upon year, Alaska Sandhill Cranes fly thousands of miles, evading powerlines and shotguns and surmounting natural barriers, to reach their nest sites. In contrast to some non-migratory crane populations that become habituated to humans, most Alaska cranes are wild and wary.

Once at their summer destinations, Alaska cranes explore the surroundings, defend their territories, make nests and raise young, broadcast their presence over miles by resonant bugling, and interact at closer distances by soft purring and acrobatic dancing. With observations, photographs, and an evolutionary neuroscience pespective, we focus on:

• the education of  crane colts in the wild,
• information content of the signals that bind cranes to one another,
• social structure within breeding neighborhoods and flocks, and
• how they make decisions.

This website and its companion Blog are intended to be an information resource and, we hope, a catalyst for discussions of crane biology, bird behavior, and animal cognitive capacities. Please email us with your own observations and ideas so that we respond and share your insights on the web.

Thank you for making Nature an immediate part of your personal world view.

Christy Yuncker and George Happ

2011 events

• April 26 - Millie and Roy return.
• Late April - Dancing, feeding, mating, and exploring.
  Roy repeatedly tests nestbuilding at sites across the cranberry bog.
• May 6 - Egg laid and nesting begins.