I returned to check on a cohort of captive-raised chicks that I photographed in 2021. They had been banded and released into the wild at White Lake Wildlife Area. White Lake was the last stronghold for a non-migratory whooping crane population until 1950, when a hurricane wiped out five of the remaining six birds. The lone survivor was captured and brought into captivity.

Three of the five “Weather Boys,” as I called them, were still around; one had disappeared, and one is now living out his life in captivity. The group of three whooping cranes was very conspicuous during my first few days there, feeding on spent rice grain in a flooded field from a recent harvest. One, named Lava, is paired with an older female who was captive-raised and released from Wisconsin. The third bird is a young male, wild-hatched and wild-raised. In one frame, these three birds told a remarkably complete story of whooping crane conservation in Louisiana.

I also spent time with Eva and Sara—the dynamic duo of biologists who champion these birds. Dressed in crane costumes, they lured and captured the males in the field—a tough, physical job. They performed blood work and replaced old bands with new ones.

From there, I traveled east to New Orleans to visit the Audubon Zoo, home to one of the most robust captive-rearing whooping crane programs. This facility supports the Louisiana marsh population and provides a forever home for injured birds or those that can’t be released.

I spent a day with three whoopers: “Twiki,” who was found earlier this year nearly dead after a powerline strike near White Lake; “Lightning,” one of the Weather Boys who developed a defect called angel wing and is non-releasable; and “Fog,” the miracle egg once thought infertile, pulled from Cloud and Spirit’s nest in the Baraboo Hills of Wisconsin. I also visited Andre and Droopy—elderly captive whoopers, both in their late 20s—living out their days peacefully.

Unfortunately, I only have a fraction of what I shot that day after accidentally reformatting a card and being unable to recover the images.