Hans was captured and fitted with a transmitter on
March 17, 1999. Hans was recorded at Long Point until the 23rd
of March. Hans was next located 112km north at Wildwood Conservation
Area on May 30. Wildwood Conservation Area is located southwest of
Stratford and east of the town of St. Marys. The primary landuse in this
area is agriculture (IBA’s of Canada Online Directory). The Wildwood
Reservoir is an impoundment of Trout Creek, a tributary from the north
branch of the Thames River. At the east end of the reservoir is an
impoundment created by Ducks Unlimited. Hans remained at Wildwood from
March 27 till April 3. Hans was next recorded north of Lake Superior in
Wisconsin on April 6. This location is 661km west of Wildwood. Hans was
next recorded approximately 660 km west at West Fargo, North Dakota from
April 9 to 19. On April 22, Hans was recorded at Pasqua Lake,
Saskatchewan – 244km northwest of West Fargo. Pasqua Lake is 14km long
and over 1km wide. The Qu’appelle River enters the west end and forms
a chain of 4 lakes. An extensive marsh at the west end of the lake
supports dense growths of emergent marsh and wet meadow vegetation. On
April 26, there is one record of Hans 496 km northwest at Kenilworth
Lake IBA. Kenilworth Lake is located 18 km east of the town of Vermilion
in east central Alberta. The primary land use is rangeland/pasture,
agriculture/cultivation. Kenilworth Lake is considered one of the most
important duck staging areas in the Aspen Parkland region of Canada (IBA’s
of Canada Online Directory). Hans then moved east about 70 km and
remained at this location from May 2nd to May 19. On May 29
–June 8, Hans was 994km northwest at North Arm Great Slave Lake,
Northwest Territory. On June 11 until Oct 26, Hans moved 348km
northeast. On June 15, Hans was located in the Queen Maude Gulf
Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The Queen Maude Gulf Lowlands cover an area of
over 60,000 km in the central Canadian Arctic. They are located
approximately 75 km south of the community of Cambridge Bay and are
bounded to the north by the Queen Maude Gulf. The landscape is comprised
of a flat plain of Precambrian bedrock, overlain with glacial till,
marine clays and silts, that extends approximately 135km inland. Much of
the area has recently emerged from the sea. In low-lying areas the
vegetation consists of wet sedge meadows and marsh tundra, while the
upland areas contain lichens, mosses, and vascular plants (IBA’s of
Canada Online Directory). Surveys conducted in the coastal section (up
to 50 km inland) of the sanctuary in 1990 and 1991 documented globally
significant numbers of several other waterfowl species, including as
much as 18% of the eastern Tundra Swan population (IBA’s of Canada
Online Directory). The last recorded location for Hans was October 26,
1999 at Queen Maude Gulf Lowlands.
Total accumulated tracking distance for Hans was =
4538km.
