I returned to the County U Road birds twice in May. George Archibald had placed my blind in the wetland fenceline with a clear view of the nesting area the whoopers had used last year. The approach to the blind was through a thick woodlot along a deer trail, followed by a careful crawl and sneak for the next 50 yards, using the blind’s profile to block the view between the birds on the nest and me. Fortunately, the whoopers nested in roughly the same location as the year before.

Between my trip here in March and my return in May, the female—who had been feared dead—showed up two weeks after the brother and sister. She then drove the sister away. The sister ended up at Necedah NWR, about 60 miles north, in the core habitat for whooping crane recovery efforts.

The County U Road pair copulated, established their nest, and soon laid a pair of eggs. ICF biologists pulled one egg from the nest to increase the odds of rearing success and sent it to the Audubon Institute in New Orleans to be captive-raised for eventual release into the Louisiana flock.

I photographed the pair on and around the nest for several days from a couple of vantage points, including the blind. I sneaked in after dark and left only when both birds had gone to feed, or when I knew I could make a clean getaway with the right wind and light and a crane comfortably dozing on the nest.

I captured many behaviors on and around the nest: egg turning, unison calling, nest exchanges, and the male constantly chasing all other manner of life out of the valley—especially sandhill cranes.