February 2019 Meeting: Greater Sandhill Cranes with Stan Temple

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.