Today
we welcome back Kathleen Kaska, author of the Sydney Lockhart Mystery series
and the Classic Triviography Mystery series. However, today she’s not here to
talk about her mysteries but about Rockport, Texas, the Birding Capital of
North America; whooping cranes; and her non-fiction book The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The
Robert Porter Allen Story, nominated
for the George Perkins Marsh Award for environmental history. Learn more about
Kathleen and her books at her website and blog.
Migration: If It’s Good for the Birds . . .
On one my first visits to
the small town of Rockport on the Texas coast, I disturbed a clowder of cats as
I strolled along the harbor. Seconds later, a fog seemed to descend like a
curtain over the fishing boats moored along the docks, and the line, “A fog
comes in on little cat feet,” from Carl Sandburg’s poem, “The Fog,” echoed in
my head. Since then, I’ve spent many weeks in this quaint coastal town. Every
visit has been as magical as that foggy day.
Many of you know me as a
mystery writer, but when I’m not plotting murder and mayhem, I’m out with my
binoculars and my iPhone, opened to the iBird app. So it’s not the furry
felines that draw me to Rockport every year, it’s our feathered friends, in
particular the severely endangered whooping crane.
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| The author (in white cap) out birding in Rockport, Texas |
Every October for tens of
thousands of years, Grus americana,
better known as the whooping crane, leaves the Northwest Territories in Canada
and heads south to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Rockport in
Aransas County. Aransas County and neighboring Matagorda County are
collectively considered The Birding Capital of North America. Between October
and April, birds from all over the hemisphere descend on this area of the
central Texas coast. Some stay for the winter; some refuel and continue south.
It should be no surprise
that after my own numerous migrations to visit the refuge and to see my
favorite bird, my passion for this severely endangered creature resulted in a
book about its survival.
In 1942, there were only
fifteen whooping cranes left in the wild. Many prominent ornithologists had
written them off as a species destined for extinction. But because of the
efforts of Robert Porter Allen, an ornithologist with the National Audubon
Society, the species has made an unbelievable comeback. The key to saving them
was discovering their only remaining nesting site, somewhere in the central
Canadian wilderness, before development wiped it out. The story is a true race
against time, an adventure for Bob Allen that lasted almost nine years. I like
to say that my book, The Man Who Saved
the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story, can best be described as
Indiana Jones meets John James Audubon.
Although there are almost
six hundred whooping cranes in the wild today, their story of survival still
continues. I recount those efforts toward the end of the book. Ever see the
movie Fly Away Home? The story is
based on an actual experiment to teach young cranes to follow ultra-light
planes in order to establish a secondary migratory route. Operation Migration,
described as wildlife conservation’s equivalent of placing a man on the moon,
was started in 2001 and has resulted in more than a hundred whooping cranes now
migrating from Wisconsin to Florida. The project is a continuation of Allen’s
work, and the story of the pilots, research technicians, and volunteers is just
as compelling.
Next time you find yourself
on the central Texas coast in the winter, visit the refuge. Even if you’re not
a birder, the more than 115,000 acres of coastal plains offers some of the best
hiking around. Many of the hotels in Rockport and the neighboring town of
Fulton are located right on the water. It’s not unusual to look out your window
and see spoonbills, tri-colored herons, little blue heron, and most species of
egrets flying by or feeding along the oyster reefs. And while staying in
Rockport/Fulton, you’ll come to understand why the birds flock to the area. Not only is the weather enticing, you’ll have
the opportunity to sample some of the best seafood in the country.
Find more information on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and Rockport, Texas at these websites: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/aransas and
Elizabeth J. Rosenthal,
author of Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger
Tory Peterson, says, “Finally, Robert Porter
Allen gets the credit he deserved for his tireless work on behalf of the
whooping crane. Kathleen Kaska movingly recounts an adventurous life dedicated
to the preservation of endangered birds when the odds were overwhelming against
success. Kaska’s narrative reads like an adventure novel!”
Buy Links
Thanks for having me as your guest today, Lois. I love sharing information about birds, especially those that migrate to Texas.
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog Post. And, a great author. It is a wonderful story and it is great that Kathleen Kaska is bringing such awareness to these birds (and Texas).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice comment. I'm passionate about these whoopers. They deserve a chance.
ReplyDelete