 |
03-25-2019, 07:55 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Black Dually
Posts: 259
|
|
Whooping Crane SE Calgary?
So I'm watching the Flames game here in SE Calgary. About 10 minutes ago I happen to look out our north facing living room window and see a large white bird with red and black markings on its head cruise by. Looked like it was heading towards Langdon/Strathmore. Am I on glue? Could it be a whooper? I watched it disappear east-northeast and didn't see any other birds with it.
|
03-26-2019, 07:23 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 216
|
|
Their major migratory route is through Sask and then cuts over to Wood Buffalo it looks like, the bird could have been taking the scenic route home. I've only ever seen them when I was working around Lake Diefenbaker in Sask but seems probable to me.
|
03-26-2019, 07:26 AM
|
|
Banned
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Gods Country
Posts: 1,706
|
|
It is very likely they could be in Calgary as the “Western flock” flies from Arkansas to Wood Buffalo, if you went “as the crow flies” with a ruler on a map, it wouldn’t be far off that line at all...........
Would have been cool to see a picture.
|
03-26-2019, 08:49 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 21,399
|
|
Saw a couple in the Calgary zoo, maybe one of them took flight ? the zoo breeds them as well. Not uncommon to confuse them with Sand Hills either.
Grizz
__________________
"Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal."
John E. Pfeiffer The Emergence of Man
written in 1969
|
03-26-2019, 09:03 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 1,685
|
|
I saw 4 in a field south of Buck Lake a few years ago in the fall.
|
03-26-2019, 09:29 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 809
|
|
we have a pair that always takes a break for a Cpl days along a frog pond here called Kensington lake , both spring and fall
they are the only whooping cranes I have ever seen,
some of the not so knowledgeable old timers were out trying to shoot them one day
while I was out trying to get a photo of them, they changed their mind when I called the fish cops on them ,
LMAO it took the fish cops all of 20 minutes to arrive , and after a tsern talking to they were well educated on the hunting and shooting of endangered species here in Saskatchewan ,
I wasn't to popular for a Cpl months in the local coffee shop but oh well to bad so sad
I warned them first , they just thumbed their noses at me
__________________
If you consider an unsuccessful hunt to be a waste of time,
then the true meaning of the chase Eludes you all together
you only get a second
shoot where their
going not where they been,
|
03-26-2019, 10:49 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,227
|
|
It's possible, but Very rare for a Whooping crane to be anywhere in Alberta south of Red Deer.
As you noted the head colouring but didn't mention seeing black wing tips, I suspect you saw a swan.
Wildbill, Whooping cranes do not migrate as a crow flies.
Lots of detailed maps showing their flight path are available online.
__________________
Alberta Fish and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Policy -
"to identify very rare, scarce or special forms of fish and wildlife outdoor recreation opportunities and to ensure that access to these opportunities continues to be available to all Albertans."
|
03-26-2019, 12:06 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sask
Posts: 412
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel_wiesel
we have a pair that always takes a break for a Cpl days along a frog pond here called Kensington lake , both spring and fall
they are the only whooping cranes I have ever seen,
some of the not so knowledgeable old timers were out trying to shoot them one day
while I was out trying to get a photo of them, they changed their mind when I called the fish cops on them ,
LMAO it took the fish cops all of 20 minutes to arrive , and after a tsern talking to they were well educated on the hunting and shooting of endangered species here in Saskatchewan ,
I wasn't to popular for a Cpl months in the local coffee shop but oh well to bad so sad
I warned them first , they just thumbed their noses at me
|
Good on you! I'm sure they would've been more ****ed if you didn't say anything or hadn't called immediately and they'd shot them and landed themselves a court date!
Win-win. No dead Whoopers and no court date for them!
|
03-26-2019, 03:17 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 21,399
|
|
The zoo crane, surprised to see them in the snow.
Grizz
__________________
"Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal."
John E. Pfeiffer The Emergence of Man
written in 1969
|
03-26-2019, 06:41 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Black Dually
Posts: 259
|
|
Thanks for the replies everyone
As it happened so fast - maybe a couple seconds of quality observation as it cruised past, and due to the low sun at it's back, I didn't want to confirm any details I wasnt 100% sure of. My view was also partially obscured by the elm tree in our front yard. So I can say certainly I saw a pure white body with long neck extending to a head that definitely had red and black patches and a yellow eye. The break carried forward from the head but nothing was out of proportion, leading to a sleek looking profile. I could not guarantee the wing tips but I did suspect they were dark; again hard to tell due to the shadows and the tree. Same thing for the leg colour and position in flight. That sucker was moving though it didn't give us a lot of time to look lol. It was out of sight in short order. I bet it's well past Camrose by now.
I've seen a pair of whoopers before, in a field in NW Saskatchewan when I was home for Easter in the general area around Meadow Lake (closer to Barthel for anyone who knows the area).
I'm wondering if this bird got blown off course from the big storms a couple weeks ago in the midwest USA?
|
03-26-2019, 07:10 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Blackfalds
Posts: 6,951
|
|
Was it one of these guys maybe?
This guy popped up on my trail cam west of Rocky
__________________
Trudeau and Biden sit to pee
|
03-26-2019, 07:33 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,816
|
|
Awesome to be able to see them. Rare you're able to catch them on film. I was exhilarated to be able to catch this pic which is almost as rare as catching a whooper on film. 
|
03-26-2019, 07:38 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Black Dually
Posts: 259
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple
Was it one of these guys maybe?
This guy popped up on my trail cam west of Rocky
|
Thanks DK, but nope. Definitely pure white body on the one I saw, no mottling. Head shape seems similar though. Cool pic BTW hes got a couple runways to get airborne again if he dont get tangled up lol
|
03-26-2019, 08:08 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: 204
Posts: 5,447
|
|
I remember a picture in the local paper of a whooping crane who was hanging out with a flock of sandhill cranes. It was somewhere in the middle east.
__________________
"I like to quote my own quotes" ~ Dewey Cox
|
03-26-2019, 08:19 PM
|
|
Banned
|
|
Join Date: May 2007
Location: YEG
Posts: 9,981
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Okotok
Awesome to be able to see them. Rare you're able to catch them on film. I was exhilarated to be able to catch this pic which is almost as rare as catching a whooper on film. |
Outstanding pic!! You need to send this to Coast2Coast 
|
03-26-2019, 09:06 PM
|
|
Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Strathmore
Posts: 5,625
|
|
[QUOTE=Soulcousin;3953198]
I've seen a pair of whoopers before, in a field in NW Saskatchewan when I was home for Easter in the general area around Meadow Lake (closer to Barthel for anyone who knows the area).
Barthel Sask. Spent some time there years ago, good friend of mine comes from a large family there.
__________________
If you're not a Liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not a Conservative when you're old, you have no brain. Winston Churchill
You can, you should, & if you're brave enough to start, you will. Stephen King
|
03-27-2019, 08:53 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 1,685
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple
Was it one of these guys maybe?
This guy popped up on my trail cam west of Rocky
|
Is that a Sandhill Crane? Do Whooping Cranes have a brown phase?
Growing up we saw sandhills all the time, and when you saw a whooping crane, you knew it because of the size difference and the white.
|
03-27-2019, 03:32 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Medicine Hat
Posts: 1,840
|
|
Came into Calgary on 22x yesterday and there were a bunch of trumpeter swans between Langdon and Calgary....
Could be what you saw.
|
03-27-2019, 05:36 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 21,399
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by madatter
Came into Calgary on 22x yesterday and there were a bunch of trumpeter swans between Langdon and Calgary....
Could be what you saw.
|
Probably Tundra swans, common this time of year, headed for the Arctic.
Grizz
__________________
"Indeed, no human being has yet lived under conditions which, considering the prevailing climates of the past, can be regarded as normal."
John E. Pfeiffer The Emergence of Man
written in 1969
|
03-28-2019, 09:12 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,307
|
|
A tundra swan I managed to snap a couple years ago.
And some sand hills from a few years ago as well.
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:51 AM.
|
Linear Mode
