The more ecotourism dollars earned through the festival the more likely that the Sandhill Crane hunt there will go from tabled for two years to permanently cancelled. The festival is next weekend, 14-15 January, and will be held at Hiwassee Refuge so, who knows, maybe you will get to see the vagrant Hooded Crane as well!
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Thank you for this plug for the festival! The media coverage in TN for the festival and the sandhill cranes, whoopers, and of course, the hooded crane has been over the top. It makes me smile and feel like all that we’ve been saying about the wildlife-viewing value of sandhill cranes is being demonstrated for the whole world to see. That is especially heartening after reading the dismal report on the drought in TX and how it may impact the wild population of whooping cranes that breeds in Canada. And of course, it makes me doubly happy that the FAA gave the temporary nod to Operation Migration to finish this season’s whooping crane ultralight-led migration.
I was glad to hear the good news for Operation Migration too! Happy end to an awesome story.