As I was about to say ….. There are 549 Whooping Cranes in the world at the moment, and maybe 64 more. The latter is the number of chicks hatched this spring from a record 66 nests in Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Saskatchewan, where the western flock breeds. These birds will be added to the population total if and when they migrate successfully to their winter home in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. This flock is estimated at 266 birds, not counting the chicks, estimated because the cranes nest in scattered and remote locations. There are 33 cranes in a non-migratory flock in Florida, and 100 in the migratory flock that summers in central Wisconsin and winters in Florida. The latter includes 28 chicks that are being raised at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge near Tomah for release this fall. There are 150 cranes in captivity at zoos or research facilities in Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Alberta, Canada. This information comes from Bob Russell, biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN 6th District, R) has returned from her visit to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. She was one of 10 Congressmen making that trip this past weekend. The purpose was to assure us all that drilling for oil there poses no problems for wildlife. She did not set foot on the refuge. This was an overfly visit. She was in a plane large enough to hold perhaps 15 people. Looking at the photos that accompany her blog today on the National Review web site, the plane probably flew at no less than 1,500 feet, say at 120 mph.

I’ve flown in Alaska. Those are reasonable assumptions.

This is what she says today: “Visiting ANWR also revealed that almost no wildlife exists in the 2,000-acre area (proposed drilling site). It was flat arctic tundra with absolutely no trees in view. And, caribou and wildlife were nowhere near the possible drilling sites. Furthermore, we know that nine months out of the year this area is hidden under snow and ice and three months out of the year the area is covered in complete darkness.”

What snow and ice and darkness have to do with wildlife, particularly breeding birds in spring and summer, is beyond me. And her view from one side of that plane zipping along high above the treeless (what did she expect?) tundra was never going to reveal most of the wildlife to be found there.

Upon arrival in Alaska, Rep. Bachmann received a briefing packet containing checklists for the 45 species of land and marine mammals, 36 species of fish, and 180 species of birds that can be found on the refuge. Rep. Bachmann didn’t do her homework, or she didn’t take a good look at her briefing packet, or she just says whatever supports her position, true or not.

If you’d like to hear what the proposed drilling location sounds like in June, check the last 25 percent of a podcast available at http://tinyurl.com/5uox96. The photo is of a Willow Ptarmigan hen, a species that nests in ANWR. The hen obviously would be clearly visible from an airplane if the hen really was there.

Some bird species using the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for breeding can be seen in Minnesota. Long-tailed Duck is one of them. Some Long-tails spend the winter on Lake Superior, and at times can be seen from various North Shore vantage points.

Ten Congressional Republicans, including our own Michelle Bachman, will be in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska this weekend. This is billed as a fact-finding trip. (The ANWR is sometimes pronounced as ann-whar.) The refuge is the subject of much debate over drilling for oil. These particular Congressmen/women strongly support drilling. And that should pose no problem for wildlife if you believe what House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said at a news conference this week. “We’re going to look at this barren, Arctic desert where I’m hoping to see some wildlife. But I understand there’s none there,” he said.

No wildlife in the wildlife refuge! Imagine that!

Unfortunately, this is essentially a fly-over visit for the Congressional party. Jimmy Fox, deputy manager of ANWR, said Thursday in a telephone interview that it is his understanding that Rep. Boehner, Rep. Bachman, and their associates will not set foot on the refuge, although they will spend a couple of hours in a village within the refuge.

Wouldn’t it be nice if they put on boots and tramped around on the tundra for a day or two, actually took a look at things? More value for dollars spent, you might say.

“We have no input in what they will see or do,” he said. “They basically come to us for information.” He said refuge personnel will accompany the Congressmen on the overflight. He was uncertain of the type of aircraft to be used, but guessed it would not be the slow, low-flying type of aircraft used for wildlife-management work. He did say that various wildlife lists would be included in the briefing packets each Congressmen will receive. We can only hope that Boehner and his colleagues pay attention to work done by his fellow government employees.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that ANWR is inhabited by 45 species of land and marine mammals, 36 species of fish, and 180 species of birds. Not that it’s going to matter much, right?  For more on this issue seen Kenn Kaufman’s remarks at  http://www.kknature.com/CurrentTopics.html

Birding idea of the day:

My friend Charlie often would go birding with a large trash bag tucked into a pocket. He would fill it with trash found wherever we were — along a road, at a park, on a beach — and haul it home. Charlie believed he had an obligation to give as well as receive.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 27, the 2008-2009 duck stamp goes on sale.

The stamp is one of the best conservation tools we have. It’s been supporting birds of all kinds for 75 years now. All birders should buy one.

Duck stamps pump big-time money into conservation of many of the birds you love, be they ducks or not. Waterfowl hunters must buy the stamp if they’re going to hunt. You can do it as an inexpensive and readily available conservation effort.

Stamps are sold at most post offices, at some sporting-goods stores, including Wal-Mart, I believe, and over the Internet.

Stamp money – 98 cents of every dollar – is used by the federal government to buy or lease wetland habitat for protection in the national wildlife refuge system.

Many, many non-game bird species benefit from refuge land. They needn’t be ducks. This is a no-brainer for me. I’ll be at my local post office tomorrow morning with $15 in hand (the cost of the stamp). I’ll bring it home and tape it to the front of my Sibley bird guide, where my earlier stamps reside.

Joe Hautman of Plymouth painted this stamp, showing a pair of pintails. The 2009-2010 contest to choose the next stamp painting will be held in Bloomington in October. There will be several public events.

Stay tuned. When you buy your stamp, do you display it? How?