Annual count set for April 13

A sign-up session and instructional class for any anyone interested in participating in the 44th annual Midwest Crane Count will be held Saturday, March 23, in Waupaca.

The class is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Meeting Room B of the Waupaca Area Public Library, 107 S. Main St.

The Baraboo-based International Crane Foundation sponsors the Midwest Crane Count. This year’s count will be held from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Saturday, April 13.

More than 1,000 volunteers from throughout Wisconsin, and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota participate in the spring survey, which gathers information on the abundance and distribution of cranes in the upper Midwest.

Anyone interested in attending the March 23 class is asked to RSVP with county coordinator Dean Johnson at [email protected] or on the Waupaca County Annual Sandhill Crane Count Facebook page.

The crane count is part of the ICF’s mission to conserve the world’s 15 species of cranes and the natural communities on which they depend.

Sandhill cranes nearly disappeared from Wisconsin, but the species has successfully recovered and is slowly expanding into neighboring states.

Observations of sandhill cranes can lend insight into threatened crane species, including the endangered whooping crane. There is now a reintroduced population of more than 100 whooping cranes in central Wisconsin and crane counters have a chance of seeing one during the survey.