Posted on 10/19/2005 4:52:45 PM PDT by SJackson
TOWN of FREEDOM - A group of 20 migrating young whooping cranes and four ultralight aircraft left Sauk County early Tuesday morning for Green County on their 1,200-mile flight to Florida, though one of the birds suffered a minor injury.
Soon after the early morning takeoff, one of the whoopers got caught in the wires on top of one of the ultralight aircraft, slightly injuring his leg.
One of the pilots led the bird to the ground for an emergency landing, where he was examined. The pilot tried to get the bird back up in the air to join the rest of the group, but the crane was unable to catch up and landed in a field, where he was crated and shipped to Green County to join the group.
According to Operation Migration, the group has traveled about 46 miles so far. The ultralight migrations began in 2001, led by Operation Migration and other members of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, an international coalition that is organizing the effort to reintroduce whooping cranes in eastern North America; part of their historic range.
Whooping crane chicks that participate in the migration are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, where they are raised in isolation from humans. New classes of cranes are transported to Necedah each June to begin a summer of conditioning behind the ultralights to prepare them for their long fall journey.
Staff from Baraboo's International Crane Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service track the cranes as they make their way to Florida and back. On the verge of extinction in the 1940s, there are now about 300 in the wild, including 42 migratory wild whooping cranes in eastern North America.
This is the fifth generation of the birds taking part in reintroduction efforts. For daily updates on the migration, call (904) 232-2580 ext. 124 or visit the partnership's Web site at http://www.bringbackthecranes.org.
We were just outside listening to the sandhill cranes a few minutes ago.
I Know someone who volunteers at the Ding Darling preserve on Sanibel Island FL. I send him all these and post them at the education center there.
If this ain't cool nothing is.
Herons are cool. I'll just give you the link to my photo so I don't have to shrink it and upload it and all that.
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/54892/photo116.html
Lots of birds around here.
Ultralights have to winter down south, too?
It does sound like fun. When they first started it, it was considered an off the wall idea. As I recall they spent quite a bit of time imprinting the whoopers to humans. Turns out, they like flying with people.
International Crane Foundation
Ultralight Migration Update, October 19, 2005
The ultralight-led migration is off to a great start--to date, the birds have flown four out of six days! The 20 Whooping Cranes and crew from Operation Migration are currently grounded in Green County, Wisconsin due to high winds.
Yesterday was their longest flight--46 miles, from Sauk County to Green County. It was a beautiful, picture-perfect fall day. After waiting for the ground fog to clear, the migration was ready to begin. Nineteen cranes made the 46 mile journey successfully to the stopover location in Green County.
One crane, number 16-05, became caught in the wires of the ultralight wing and pilot Brooke Pennypacker had to make an emergency landing with the bird. Those of us on the ground listening to the pilots’ radio conversation held our breath as we waited for news of the grounded pilot and crane.
After what felt like an eternity, we heard Brooke’s voice on the radio--the bird and he were both fine and in the air again! The crane eventually decided he had had enough excitement for one day, and landed in a field. Ground crew from Operation Migration arrived with a crane crate and drove the bird to the stopover location in Green County. The crane sustained a minor cut above his hock (ankle) and is currently doing fine.
Meanwhile, none of the previous years’ 42 cranes or the four Direct Autumn Release birds have begun their fall migration south. We are anticipating this will begin in early November.
"...but the crane was unable to catch up and landed in a field, where he was crated and shipped to Green County to join the group."
Slacker. Must've been a Wisconsin liberal, LOL!
My cranes have been gone for about three weeks already. They seem to travel north from Lake Barney up to Baraboo, then turn around and go south again with their friends.
That Crane Institute is awesome. I always jumped at the chance to be a chaperone when they kids were taking that Field Trip! :)
They are certainly nice Cranes, but they can't fly (looks like they might be trying to take off).
I could post it, i just didn't feel like it.
This kind of scheme started with some geese that were raised and trained to fly with a slow airplane to establish new migration route. IIRC when they were hatched from eggs, thus their imprinting of their "human mother" is unavoidable. You just have to feed them and be the first thing they see when hatch,
I just read the other night that migratory birds usually fly at night. Also, some fly extremely high, for example, Iron Head Ducks have been seen flying at 30,000 feet.
12-gauge or 10-gauge?
It's still a long way to Florida. You might note the diary entry/link in post 10.
Must be. I see them out in a field near my house flying and milling around...mostly on the week-ends though.
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