On the wings of Cranes: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story will be presented by author Lowell M. Schake in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Conference Room, Austwell, Texas. The public is invited to this day-long event running from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on January 24th, 2009 at the Rufuge Headquarters. Copies of the book will be sold by AMIGO (Aransas & Matagorda Islands Guardian/Orator). This ‘Friends’ group provides support for many Refuge activities including this lecture series. Proceeds from book sales of ‘Wings’ will be devoted to those activities as has been the case with all other book sales and events.

Mark your calander. Attend and see some of the record 270 Whooping Cranes returning from Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada this fall. Larry Walkinshaw and Robert Porter Allen were the first to investigate captive Whooping Cranes nesting at Aransas Refuge in 1949 and 1950 that led to the flocks striking recover of today. Discover how Walkinshaw, an amateur birder, worked from 1931 until the early 1990s to lead in the salvation of this and two other endangered species.

For more details proceed to ‘Upcoming Events’ at AMIGO’s website LECTURE SERIES.

The blog of November 30, 2008 told of Schake family Thanskgiving events with birds and books. Christmas Holidays will feature the same. Sheryl and Aaron Meskin along with their son Ethan will see their first copies of On The Wings of Cranes: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story. This volume is dedicated to Walkinshaw’s eight great-grandchildren, Ethan among them.

Ethan’s Schake grandparents will also give him one of four birds Lowell carved, his first, for his four grandchildren. The inspiration to carve birds came from Dr. Larry Urie, a Battle Creek, Michigan k-12 classmate of Wendy’s, who visited us earlier this year. Dr. Urie, a Battle Creek dentist who acquired many of Walkinshaw’s patients, is a world class carver. Lowell’s two Kirtland’s Warblers will be given to his granddaughters and Whistling Ducks to his two grandsons. Ethan’s Fulvous Whistling Duck appears below. Ethan, a first grader, will first see it while we play together on Robin Hood’s Bay in England on the North Sea.

Ethan thinks his duck was his “best” present.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 10, 2009 to discover, at last, “The True Story of Whooping Crane Recovery“. This 3:00 p.m. program will be held at Corpus Christi’s Northwest Branch Library, 3202 McKinzie Road featuring Larry Walkinshaw’s previously untold fifty-years (1940-1992) devoted to saving Whooping Cranes. He searched for their Canadian nesting grounds, was the first to study them nesting at Aransas National Refuge, furnished the first eggs to study incubation techniques, captured the first picture of an active Whooper nest in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, served on three national Whooping Crane committees, … and much, much more. His contributions will astound you revealing why professional cranes scientistists designate Walkinshaw, an amatuer birder, as the “Father of International Crane Research”.

Below is ‘Jo’, a member of the captive Whooper pairs nesting at Aransas in 1949 and 1950.

Walkinshaw's picture of 'Jo' at Aransas Refuge, 1950

The Corpus Christi Audubon Outdoor Club will sell copies of On the Wings of Cranes: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story. L. M. Schake, the author, will lead the discussion and sign copies honoring your special requests. Bring your family and friends… especially younger scholars of nature and ornithology. Plan to ask questions to benefit from Walkinshaw’s amazing life story.

Call 361-241-9392 for more details or click on NATURE CENTER (below) to visit Corpus Christi’s Northwest Branch Library devoted to birding. Its Cliff Moss Nature Education Center is devoted to encouraging youthful citizens to study there. The January 10th program will be held in Conference Room at the NATURE CENTER.

The Coastal Bend Audubon Society of Corpus Christi, Texas is sponsoring an April 14, 2009 program featuring “On the Wings of Crane: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story“. L. M. Schake, its author, will offer comments supportive to his power point presentation. Public is invited to attend this 7:00 p.m. event held at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. Free admission. Details appear at CBA SOCIETY PROGRAMS.

Reports of 2008 on the status of Whooping Cranes associated with the wild Wood Buffalo/Aransas flock and re-introduced ones in Florida assesses recovery prospects. Reflective of their optimism, the issue of re-establishing a flock in Lousiana is also discussed by authors Tom Stein, the USFWS Whooping Crane coordinator at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, and Marty Folk with the Florida Fish and Wlidlife Conservation Commission.

Their reports appear at the WHOOPER STATUS button below. At the end of their reports they kindly included an introduction to On the Wings of Crane: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story. Thanks guys for the ‘plug’! Nonetheless, Walkinshaw earned the privilage by his contributions to crane conservation.

WHOOPER STATUS

Binder Park Zoo

Bringham Audubon and Binder Park Zoo teamed up in October to feature Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story so essential to preserving Michigan’s birdlife while enhancing conservation and nature. Author L. M. Schake presented details at the Zoo’s Cross Administration Building, October 8, 2008.

If you’re thinking Larry Walkinshaw only studied endangered cranes and warblers, check-in at this report on Cranes, Loons and Quilts where it’s explained how On the Wings of Cranes: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story is available from the Michigan Audubon Society. I don’t know anything about the quilts but Walkinshaw’s work with loons spanned his adult life.

CRANES, LOONS & QUILTS

The Ledger of Polk County, Florida chronicled the usefulness of On the Wings of Cranes: Larry Waklkinshaw’s Life Story on November 17, 2008. Its environmental editor, Tom Palmer, laments his not knowing Walkinshaw better saying, “I was concentrating on seeing as many species as I could rather than learning a lot about just a few, as he did.” His admission highlights why Walkinshaw became an exemplar citizen scientists rather than ‘just’ another amateur birder. Palmer appropriately linked Walkinshaw to leadership roles beyond those of worldwide scope to local ones in Florida such as leading the Ridge Audubon Society.

Palmer’s complete rendition appears in his Nature of Things column below.
THE NATURE of THINGS