Avian Amber Alert

Here's a chance to blow apart the liberal premise that conservatives hate endangered animals (in addition to small children and library books). A rare missing bird needs your help; all you have to do is go for a walk and hopefully find him.

If you didn't catch WHAS 11's remarkable piece on the whooping cranes, check it out. This breed is down to one last flock in the wild. Conservationists have bred a new flock and are attempting to help it migrate for the first time from Wisconsin to Florida. A man uses a motorized hang glider to show the birds the way south.

This new flock consists of 17, but as it passed through Kentucky on day 44 of the migration, one of the birds went missing. I am certain that I saw that missing crane Friday afternoon at the lake by Springhill Garden Drive.

We noticed the bird because it looked so out of place -- like a Florida crane in a Kentucky pond, all alone. We joked that maybe one of our neighbors had built a tropical aviary and left a window open.

Then last night we heard about the migration project and the missing crane. I called number for the project and was told that the bird got lost on Friday. I went back to the pond this morning and sadly, he was gone.

But he may be close by, and that's where you come in. Walk around your neighborhood, and pay close attention to the birds near creeks, ponds and standing water from the all the rain. You'll know if you see him. Then call the migration project at 1-800-675-2618. If you have your cell phone with you, take a picture.

I've never bought in to the liberal notion that we need government agencies, funding or legislation to make us care for our environment. We take care of the earth and its inhabitants as good stewards, and because we have a duty to protect the weak (whether it's a fetus or a whooping crane).

Noah didn't build the ark in obediance to or with any aid from FEMA. His ark did include a pair of whooping cranes, and now one of their descendents needs our help. Spread the word!