Some years we go on a whooping crane boat tour. This year however we decided to go looking for the whoopers on our own.
On some property next to Goose Island State Park we found a pair of whoopers that had taken up residence in a front yard by a deer corn feeder. Lazy birds!!!
While watching this pair, we saw them chase off other whoopers who thought they'd come eat some corn. Then some sandhill cranes flew into the area. Using stealth, they snuck up on the whoopers.
However, the whoopers were totally unconcerned about the sandhill cranes and shared the corn with them.
Here is a bit of information about the gorgeous whooping cranes that winter in this area of the Texas Gulf coast. The whooper is the tallest American bird, standing at 5 feet with a 7 1/2 foot wingspan.
The Last Wild Flock
The Aransas-Wood Buffalo Whooping Crane flock winters along the Texas coast, northeast of Corpus Christi, and breeds in Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park in the summer. It is the only natural wild flock remaining in the world. After decades of government protection in this country and in Canada, the flock has increased from 16 birds in the early 1940s to 270 in the spring of 2008. 
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