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Unconfirmed Sighting - Details of the sighting meet some, but not all of the six factors <br />listed for a probable sighting. <br />Stopover — Use of the study area during spring or fall migration <br />Use Site - A location on the ground of a crane group. A single crane group may have (and likely <br />will have) more than one use site per day. <br />IV B. Field Techniques <br />IV. B. 1. Detecting /Locating Whooping Crane Stopovers <br />Two methods will be used to locate migrating whooping crane stopovers along the central Platte <br />River during spring and fall migration: aerial surveys, and opportunistic locates. The Program's -11 _,. _ <br />Technical Committee may choose to implement each protocol component as necessary to obtain <br />needed information, for example changing the number of surveys based on results of past <br />surveys. <br />Aerial Survey <br />Daily aerial surveys will be conducted along the central Platte River valley between Lexington <br />and Chapman, Nebraska to locate spring and fall migrating whooping crane groups. The general <br />period for spring surveys is expected to be from March 18 — April 30. The Program Manager or <br />Biologist responsible for managing these surveys will be in contact with Tom Stehn (or other <br />Aransas official) at (361) 286 -3533 to obtain information related to bird departures from <br />Aransas. Contact will continue with Aransas officials until all birds have departed Aransas. <br />Daily survey flights will continue until 5 days after the last normally migrating whooping cranes <br />have departed Aransas, and no whooping cranes have been sighted in the central Platte valley for <br />5 days, and there are no recent (5 days) reports of whooping cranes in the Central Flyway south <br />of the Platte River. The fall survey period will be from October 7 — November 10 (the earliest <br />date and latest date whooping cranes have been observed on the central Platte). Spring and fall <br />survey dates might be adjusted as more data is collected. Spring and fall daily flights will be <br />dependent on suitable conditions for operating a small plane (weather and mechanical), snow <br />cover, and other environmental conditions. <br />Planes will fly at an altitude of approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) and at 100 mph. A Cessna <br />172 or similar aircraft will be used. One plane will begin at Chapman and fly west to the <br />Nebraska Highway 10 (Minden) Bridge. The second plane will begin at the Minden Bridge and <br />fly west to the Lexington Bridge. Surveys along the flight line will begin 15 minutes prior to sun <br />rise or when visibility is adequate in the opinion of the observer (e.g., the start time might be <br />later on overcast days). Each plane will begin the surveys (i.e., traveling west) flying south of <br />the main channel centerline, such that the main channel(s) can be clearly viewed. When the <br />westward leg of each survey is completed, the planes will return to the airport/landing strip (i.e., <br />traveling east) flying one, two or three miles either north or south of the center line of the river (6 <br />possibilities). The survey will continue on the return flight along one of the six transects. The <br />exact transect traveled each day will be determined using a rotating schedule. This will provide a <br />systematic aerial survey to locate whooping crane groups in areas outside of the channel as well <br />as within the channel. <br />February 23, 2001 Draft — WC Monitoring Protocol 6 <br />