The Wildlife Volunteer of Michigan’s Wildlife Conservancy published the following article in their January-February 2009 issue on page 4. Picture credits belong to Mark Weldon of Fort Wayne, Indinia, Larry Walkinshaw’s companion. The article’s title, subtitle and a picture introduce the story.
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Biography of LAWRENCE WALKINSHAW based on the new book On the Wings of Cranes: Larry Walkinshaw’s Life Story
Lawrence Harvey Walkinshaw (1904-1993) …Who accomplished more, and for longer than any, to save three endangered species
Caption: Dr. Lawrence Walkinshaw was called by some “The greatest bird nest finder of all times.” Here Walkinshaw is seen with one of 600 sandhill crane nests he found, mostly in Michigan. [Michigan Sandhill Crane nest number 307, shown here, was located in Moscow Township, Section 24, T5S, R1W, in Hillsdale County on May 6, 1980.]
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Walkinshaw was born to Calhoun County, Michigan pioneer families on February 25, 1904. Birds fascinated him by age “five or six”, he said. After attending a one-room school, Bellevue High School and Olivet College, he earned an Honors degree in dental surgery from the University Michigan. Dr. Walkinshaw started a dental practice in Battle Creek in 1929. His practice spanned forty-years concurrent with leadership in Boy Scouts of America, Battle Creek Lions Club and three Michigan Dental Societies. In 1931, he and Clara May Cartland married. The Walkinshaws had two children James and Wendy.
Recognized as “The Father of International Studies of Gruiformes” in 1975, ‘Walkinshaw’ and cranes became synonymous. The Walkinshaw Wetlands, a 4,500-acre preserve within the Huron-Manistee National Forest and The Walkinshaw Award, the highest recognition attainable for crane scientists are among his honors. He served as Wilson Society President (1958-60) and held offices in Michigan’s Audubon Society and other ornithological organizations.
Walkinshaw, however, was not into honors or officiating. His passion was saving endangered species with knowledge, and by aiding worldwide habitat restoration. His forte was stalking reclusive birds from the Artic to Africa seeking nests to reveal their secrets. Presidents of leading ornithology societies proclaimed him the “greatest bird-nest finder of all time“and the “model” life history scholar on cranes, warblers and sparrows. Fieldwork for this self-financed amateur birder began before sunrise… tabulating data, typing and editing late into the night. He published nearly 400 works.
Larry considered the 1941 establishment of Michigan Audubon Society’s Baker Sanctuary his greatest achievement. Greater sandhill cranes numbered fewer than forty nesting pairs in the US in 1931 when Larry first discovered a nest there. He proclaimed it “a sight of cranes that completely changed my life.” He published The Sandhill Cranes (1949) followed by The Cranes of the World in 1973, both landmark volumes. These and related works established the foundation for all future crane saving programs. Five-thousand or more Sandhills now roost at Baker Sanctuary during CraneFest each October.
His whooping crane rescue efforts were as intimate as with sandhills. Rather than accept leadership of the bi-national Audubon Society research program in 1947, he instead volunteered. He searched for their Canadian nesting grounds, captured the first pictures of active nests in Wood Buffalo National Park, studied them at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, provided the first sandhill to be used as surrogates for whooper egg incubation, helped charter the Whooping Crane Conservation Association, and served on three national recovery committees.
Simultaneous with crane studies, Walkinshaw conducted extensive fieldwork on Kirtland’s warblers in Michigan and the Bahamas. He was first to band one, and later established Kirtland’s genealogies, studied Cowbird infestation control and habitat restoration techniques culminating in Kirtland’s Warbler: The Natural History of An Endangered Species (1983) and Nest Observations of The Kirtland’s Warbler (1988).
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Michigan Wildlife Comservancy Web site is accessable below. JOIN their nobel conservation efforts led by Dennis Fijalkowski, Executive Director of the Bengel Wildlife Center, P.O. Box 393, Bath, MI 48808. JOIN
Dennis related in his note announcing the article’s arrival, “I have so much respect for Dr. Walkinshaw. He was one of my heros. A true citizen-scientist. Contratulations on your book.”
A picture of On the Wings of Cranes is also shown at the article’s end along with related details.
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Seeing this article with his picture prompted Mark Weldon to write me January 6, 2009. “I enjoyed the book very much. I thought I knew Larry fairly well from our conversations during our trips but you presented so much more. You know I was a fledgling crane enthuasist when Larry and Ron Hoffman took me under their wing so-to-speak. Both shaped and influenced my life. Thanks for writing the book.”
Mark obtained his copy of ‘WINGS’ during Michigan Audubon Society’s CraneFest activities last October at Baker Sanctuary. Purchase your copy now… HERE.
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Learn interesting details about all of the Sandhill Cranes in Wikipedia’s free on-line discussion on the SANDHILLS> Interestingly, Walkinshaw, the acknowledged “Father of International Crane Research”, who led in the establishment of the world’s first crane sanctuary and who first published a technical treatise on the species plus 60 other articles, does not appear as a reference. One may think missteps and time have taken their toll as an oversight. Not really, however. Should one delve into to the references that are cited, the name Walkinshaw would repeatedly appear. Progress.
