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Continued from the previous page in the wild were the 15 cranes found fighting to get the best place to nest,”
wintering that year in the Aransas McRae said.
the flock has grown about 4 percent a refuge. The Texas refuge became a
year, according to the Wildlife Service. focus of an international effort to save McRae and Wilson also saw at Goose
The whooping crane was named an the whooping cranes from extinction. Island State Park “The Big Tree,”
endangered species in 1967. one of the largest live oak trees in the
Sun City residents who joined the trips to country and estimated to be more than
In the past few years, several whooping the Aransas wildlife refuge included Greg 1,000 years old. The tree allegedly was
cranes have stopped on their flight from Hughes, Cheryl Janssen, April and Jeff a hanging tree, a rendezvous point for
Canada at Granger Lake near Granger, Nowling, Rick Siersma, Sherry McRae pirates, and even a ceremonial site for
to the delight of locals. and Joan Wilson. Many photographed the cannibalistic Karankawa Indians.
the whooping cranes feeding and in flight.
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge They also photographed osprey catching McRae and Wilson also made a side
was established in 1937 by President fish, the mating dances of Great Egrets trip to visit Mission Nuestra Señora
Franklin D. Roosevelt as a breeding and Great Blue Herons and other birds. del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga, a Roman
ground and refuge for wildlife and Catholic mission established by Spain
migratory birds, including ducks, herons, “What a sight to see egrets, herons and in 1722 in the Viceroyality of New Spain
egrets, ibises and the Roseate Spoonbills. spoonbills all crammed into one place to convert native Karankawa Indians to
In 1941, the only known whooping cranes
PHOTO BY ROBERT CRANE
Whooping cranes winter at the Aransas refuge and nest in the summer in northwest Canada. It is the only wild flock of
whooping cranes in the world.
84 | SUNRAYS JULY 2015 ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
