81 Northern search 



you drew a straight line from Aransas Refuge to Regina it passed 

 directly through North Platte! Observations had been made of 

 whooping cranes passing over Regina proper, and others had been 

 seen close to that city. It appeared, however, that the migrants 

 fan out once they reach the short-grass prairie and aspen parkland 

 zone that extends from the International Boundary near the Mani- 

 toba line northwestward across southern Saskatchewan. Before it 

 became an important wheat-farming area this region was an out- 

 standing whooping-crane breeding ground. The last nesting of the 

 species observed by anyone had been two breeding pairs found 

 near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, in 1922. Since then the population 

 that survives has been hatching its chicks in the unknown wilder- 

 ness farther to the north. But the prairie-parkland region is familiar 

 ground to them from an ecological standpoint. As a species they 

 are still at home there, except for the isolation factor needed for 

 nesting, and as they move on north it is not surprising that they 

 spread out over this ancient realm of their ancestors. 



From the vicinity of Regina, the trend of their migration seemed 

 to be in a north-northwesterly direction, toward the marshes of 

 Lake Claire in Alberta, toward the wet lands south of Great Slave 

 Lake, toward heaven only knew where. It was Fred's conclusion 

 that we should eliminate potential territory close at hand before 

 searching farther afield. I agreed with this and decided to base 

 somewhere along the line of flight on the northern rim of settle- 

 ment. I could undertake a certain amount of search by car and 

 canoe, but the logical method was to use aircraft. Arrangements 

 had already been made with our partners, the U.S. Fish and Wild- 

 life Service, and early in June I was expecting to be joined by 

 Bob Smith, who was assigned to waterfowl surveys in that area 

 and was equipped with a Grumman "Widgeon." Meanwhile, the 

 next move for me was a base of operations somewhere in west 

 central Saskatchewan. 



We landed in Meadow Lake on May 11, after roaming over a 

 considerable area en route. In every town and hamlet we met 

 people who wanted to know the latest news about the whooping 

 crane. They knew who we were on sight! Our cavalcade consisted 

 of a station wagon with the name of the National Audubon So- 



