The activity for the spring will be conducted during four weeks, from now through April 21. Volunteers can spend an hour or more in the morning, several times per week, driving the designated route and checking for whooping cranes.

As part of the recruiting effort, there will be a series of slide shows on Whooper Watch training and conservation. The programs will be presented by ecologist Karine Gil, Ph.D. at the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust Inc. offices in Wood River at 11 a.m. and at 5 p.m. this Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Spring and fall migration are the shortest periods in the life cycle of the whooping crane. This program can help better understand why and where, from 2005 to 2007, the population lost 68 individuals during migrations. This year, 266 adults and subadults that survived last winter in Texas will stop in Nebraska.

During spring 2007, 53 cranes total were sighted between March and April, and 50 percent of the sightings occurred at the Platte River. The program has designated routes on country roads along the central Platte River and identified the last 10 years' roosting areas within Nebraska that will help to focus attention on potential stopover sites.

For more information on the Whooper Watch program or to become a volunteer, call Gil at 384-4633, extension 208, or 1-888-399-2824.