October 31, 2024
Episode 0
Introduction
Michael Forsberg
Whooping Crane Chronicles host, Mike Forsberg, is a conservation photographer based in the Great Plains. Mike centers much of his work around local ecosystems and species, and launched into the journey of following whooping cranes in 2019.
This is the preface to his new book, “Into Whooperland.”
Episode Extras
Conservation photographer Mike Forsberg spent five years spanning 50,000 miles and 35 trips, chronicling the hidden lives of whooping cranes and uplifting the people who study and care for them. His book, “Into Whooperland” recounts much of that journey, and this podcast expands on conversations about the birds.
Mike talks with crane enthusiasts in their homes or places of work. Guests include biologists, who study these birds with advanced technology, artists who see the birds as their muses, and landowners who live next to these birds and know their needs. Between conversations, Mike reads entries from his personal journals documenting this grand journey.
The Whooping Crane Chronicles is a collection of stories to learn from, to ponder, and to celebrate.
Into Whooperland Preface…
“…Huddled in a river blind looking out of a hole cut in the burlap with barely enough light to see, a single whooping crane revealed itself– bone white– on the roost with thousands of sandhill cranes at close range…
When first light touched the horizon she rose up like a great spirit, as if light was emanating from inside her, and stretched her massive wings.
In that moment, my heart stopped. There was no more thinking about it.
It was time and I was on my way…
Now I look back in the rear-view mirror at these last four years having traveled roughly 50,000 miles on an ancient north-south road I call the Whooper Highway…
Through it all, I stand humbled and grateful for all these experiences and for the people and the birds who have taught me, and whom I have shared these experiences with.
I learned long ago that cranes connect habitats and peoples up and down their flyway and wherever they reside…
But the question that I started with four years ago still haunts me today:
Can they survive us and our 21st-century world?
The answer and the power to decide rests squarely in our hands.”
Podcast
Journal | Halloween