A pair of fishermen wandering about in the wetlands just outside of Banner were among witnesses to a rare site almost four years ago.
In April 2020, just as the COVID pandemic was taking hold and lockdowns were beginning, two whooping cranes were spotted by a handful of people that day. The tall birds – ”whoopers” are the tallest of all cranes – were seen in an area of the Illinois River floodplain between Banner Marsh and Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.
Sightings, catches part of Rice Lake mystic in Illinois’ Fulton County
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