Whooping cranes eat wolf berries at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie’s Pasture on a recent day. An adult is at right, while a juvenile is at left. They are among five whooping cranes wintering at the preserve this season. Those five are part of a larger flock, most members of which winter at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The flock will be getting a lot of attention this week from folks attending the Whooping Crane Festival in Port Aransas. Photo by Paula Baker
Birders, nature lovers and photographers will flock to Port Aransas for the 26th Whooping Crane Festival hosted by the Port Aransas Tourism Bureau and Chamber of Commerce. The festival will run Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 22 through 25.
The four-day event will feature renowned speakers, birding trips, boating trips, nature tours, photography workshops, a trade show and much more.
Folks who have registered early can pick up their packets and T-shirts at the Civic Center beginning at 8 a.m. on Feb. 22. The Civic Center, festival headquarters, is located at 710 W. Ave. A.
Festival T-shirts also will be sold at the Civic Center throughout the festival.
Anyone who has not yet registered for trips, workshops and speaker sessions may do so in person at the Civic Center beginning Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Registration will continue throughout the event.
A complete schedule of the events will be available at the onsite registration/information table in the Civic Center. The schedule will show which events still have openings for participants.
Kurt Cunningham of Helena, Mont., aims his camera at a great egret at the Joan and Scott Holt Paradise Pond on Feb. 26, 2022. Cunningham was among many taking part in the 25th annual Whooping Crane Festival in Port Aransas. Staff photo by Lee Harrison
Registration fees help support conservation efforts for the endangered whooping crane.
Whooping Cranes are the largest birds in North America.
When fully grown they stand at 5 feet with a wing span of 7 1/2 feet.
Whooping cranes travel 2,500 miles from their summer nesting grounds in Canada to winter at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge (AWR) near the town of Austwell, about 50 miles north of Port Aransas.
The Aransas Wood Buffalo population of whooping cranes is the only natural, self-sustaining flock in existence. The flock migrates between Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and the Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada.
According to the International Crane Foundation, the flock that winters here in the Coastal Bend is at an all-time high in population.
An estimated 543 cranes were counted in that migratory population in 2022 at the breeding grounds of the Wood Buffalo National Park.
The Coastal Bend is the only area in the United States where the whooping crane can be viewed at close range.
Five cranes are occupying the wetlands at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie’s Pasture this winter.
Festival visitors might have an opportunity to see the cranes at the preserve during one of the island bus/van tours available. There were several van tours with openings at press time. Check with the registration table to find out which tours are still available.
On Thursday evening a free lecture hosted by the University of Texas Marine Science Institute will be held at the Patton Center for Marine Education located at 855 E. Cotter Ave. No registration is necessary.
The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the lecture will begin at 7 p.m.
George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, and Ronnie Schaefer, indigenous whooping crane protector, will talk about whooping cranes and new threats posed to them.
On Friday, the festival will be in full swing with boating and van tours, field trips and speakers.
The festival committee has lined up world-renowned speakers for Thursday through Saturday.
Registration is required to attend speaker sessions with a $10 fee per session.
All speaker sessions will be held at the Patton Center for Marine Education.
Liz Smith will open the speaker sessions on Friday. Her will talk is titled “Why Do We Have Whooping Cranes in Port Aransas and How Do We Keep Them?”
Smith joined the International Crane Foundation in 2011 as senior whooping crane scientist and developed the Texas Whooping Crane Program initiatives and served as North America program director and Texas program leader until her retirement in August 2022.
Other speaker sessions on Friday will feature Archibald, and Jace Tunnel, director of community engagement at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Speakers throughout the festival will include David Newstead, director of the Coastal Bird Program at the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program in Corpus Christi; Carter Crouch with the International Crane Foundation; Dale Gawlik with the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University
Corpus Christi; Sara Zimorski with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; Kristina Alexander with the Harte Research Institute and Chris Corpus with the Dallas Zoo.
At press time tickets were still available for the speaker sessions.
Organizers also have scheduled several unique events for festival goers.
Sunset Wine and Dolphin Cruises scheduled Friday, Saturday and Sunday still have openings.
Festival goers can still register for sessions to paint their own whooping crane art step-by-step at Wine, Whine and Design sessions scheduled Friday and Saturday at the Port Aransas Art Center. The art center is located at 104 N. Alister St.
Presentations about the Amos Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) are scheduled Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Participants will learn about the diversity of species the ARK works with, as well as what goes on behind the scenes in a marine animal rehabilitation facility. Proceeds from ticket sales will go directly back to the ARK to continue with its work.
The Bird’s Nest Nature Related Trade show will open on Friday at 9 a.m. in the Civic Center.
The show features vendors selling optics, painting, photography, unique gift items and more.
In addition, representatives from conservation organizations will have booths and be on hand to talk about their organizations’ efforts.
Entrance into the trade show is free and open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information about the event, visit the festival website at www.portaransas.org/whooping-crane-festival or contact the chamber at (361) 749-5919.
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