What Have We Done to Deserve All These Cranes?
For the first Uplands Garden Club meeting of 2019, Stan
Temple, Professor Emeritus in Conservation, UW-Madison, once again accepted an
invitation to speak to our group, this time on the ever-growing numbers of
Greater Sandhill Cranes. His presentation gave a fascinating history of how
these birds have staged a comeback after coming close to extinction Stan reviewed
their remarkable recovery, described their migratory behavior and discussed
some recent controversies such as crane hunting.
Stan had presented at a previous garden club meeting on
Phenology and the Passenger Pigeon. As Senior Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation,
Stan and the topic of Sand Hill Cranes came highly recommended by Garden Club
members Bill and Jayne Wisler who had the pleasure of participating in an event
last Fall in which Stan spoke on cranes at the Aldo Leopold Foundation site in Baraboo Wisconsin. He
guided the group on a trail walk and explored the Shack. An inspiring speaker,
perhaps some of us will want to learn more and partake in this event at the Aldo Leopold Foundation next fall.
