Spring 2001 Whooping Crane Migrational Survey Protocol Implementation Report

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M Spring 2001 Whooping Crane Migrational Survey Protocol Implementation Report Prepared by Executive Director's Office For Committee's of the Platte River Cooperative Agreement November 19, 2001 I. Introduction The draft protocol, "Monitoring whooping crane migrational habitat use in the central Platte River valley ", was implemented for testing during the Spring 2001 migration season. A contract was awarded to Assessment Impact Monitoring Environmental Consulting (AIM) on March 6, 2001 to implement the protocol. Aerial flights and the associated monitoring. began on March 18, 2001, and the fieldwork was l completed on April 30, 2001. Data sheets, maps, photographs, a draft summary report, and recommendations for modifying the protocol were provided by AIM to the Technical Committee (TC) through the Executive Director's office (EDO) on May 18, 2001 with a revised final report provided on August 16, 2001. The EDO designed a Microsoft Access database and entered the data, while AIM reviewed the database for accuracy and provided additional data and clarifications. This report summarizes the data and provides recommendations for modifying the protocol. II. Methods The contract with AIM specified the implementation of the protocol dated February 23, 2001 (Appendix A.). AIM was provided with datasheets (Appendix B) and guidance in protocol interpretation from the EDO and TC during a training session in Kearney, Nebraska. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Nebraska Field Office was also present at the training to facilitate communication during the monitoring season and to train observers in whooping crane identification. An Access database was designed to hold all the data collected during the implementation of the protocol (Appendix Q. Five tables are in the database and can be linked on crane group ID, observation date, and location ID. The raw datasheets are in the AIM report and stored in the Platte River Project library maintained at the EDO. The tables in the database are: • Activity Log- The data for this table comes from the Activity Log data sheet. One record in this table corresponds to one location used by a crane group. There are 36 records in this table in the database. • Use Data - The data in this table comes from the Location Log data sheet and pages 1 and 2 of the Use Site Characteristics data sheet. One record in this table corresponds Spring 2001 Whooping Crane Survey Report 1 11/19/01