I shot aerials with a whooping crane survey pilot of the Wisconsin landscape, capturing Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding countryside. We photographed all five successful nesting pairs this year—out of a population of 75 birds. I also documented an ICF-led capture crew as they banded a chick with telemetry. This young bird belonged to a pair that had nested on a marsh on private land.

The landowner, a former schoolteacher, had watched the birds every morning since they arrived in mid-March. Feeding corn to the adult male from her back deck became part of her morning chores. The male was the brother of the County U Road male—raised in the same cohort—and like his brother, he was big and, frankly, a badass.

Finally, I spent time with Omega and Seurat, the International Crane Foundation’s ambassador, whooping cranes. Visitors to the ICF campus can see them in their sprawling prairie wetland. Omega (male) and Seurat (female) have been together since 2002. He is 26 years old, and she is 24. Omega was from the very last egg collected from a nest in the wilds of Wood Buffalo during a 1990s program to pull single eggs from clutches to help build up captive-raised populations.

Both birds were hand-raised. Over the years, they’ve produced many chicks, fostered others, and contributed to research and education. They are the whoopers that people can see up close, observing natural behaviors like hunting prey, preening, and territorial calls. They are marvelous birds—deeply bonded and intimate—and almost every evening, after hours when no one is watching, they dance for each other.