DARLINGTON — The Lafayette County Bluebird Society has announced that Andy Bingle, the Interpretive Program Manager at the Inter-national Crane Foun-dation, will be the guest speaker at the spring meeting to be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 13 at the Town Bank Community Room, 15815 Wisconsin 23, Darlington. Andy Bingle joined ICF in 2014 after becoming captivated by the beauty and human passion for cranes. 

Since 2015 Andy has communicated conservation issues that face not only cranes but also humans to thousands of guests and audience members. Finally, Andy is a Certified Interpretive Guide and a Certified Interpretive Guide Trainer accredited by the National Association for Interpretation. 

Bingle summarizes his talk: “Visionary Conservation — a look at cranes and the work of the International Crane Foundation.” The two crane species in North America, the Sandhill and Whooping Crane, are at opposite ends of the population spectrum. Back from the brink of extinction, the rare Whooping Crane is making a steady yet fragile comeback — recovering from a low of only 21 individuals in the wild in 1944, to just over 500 birds today. The Sandhill Crane population, however, has made a robust recovery over the past 50 years, and they now number in the tens of thousands in Wisconsin. Why the big difference? 

The day will also include a talk about the birds of Wisconsin in recognition of International Migratory Bird Day. Refreshments and door prizes will follow. 

The event is free and open to the public.