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Texas Treasures 2: The magnificent Whooping Crane Reaching a height of 5 feet with a wingspread of 7 1/2 feet, it is one of the most majestic, magnificant and rare creatures on earth. Fantastic video: Texas Country Reporter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2C81bXu29I Sadly, primarily through hunting and loss of habitat, the population of the magnificent whooping crane has gone from an estimated 10,000+ birds before the settling of Europeans on the continent to 1,300-1,400 birds by 1870- and down to to 15 adults by 1938. However; thanks to conservation efforts of the Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuse (Tx)...

The 2011 ultralight-led Whooping crane migration is currently on hold in Alabama while the Federal Aviation Administration sorts out a regulatory issue involving OM’s pilots and aircraft. The FAA is working with OM to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. In the meantime, this year’s cohort is safely penned in Franklin County, Alabama, watched over daily by OM personnel. The issue in question is whether or not OM’s pilots are flying “for hire,” or, for the furtherance of a non-profit. OM aircraft are licensed as Light Sport Aircraft (LSAs) which came into effect in 2008. FAA regulations prohibit flying...

Date: November 26 - Entry 5 Reporter: Joe Duff Subject: TODAY'S LEAD PILOT REPORT Location: Carroll Co., TN Flown Today: 116 Mile Total Miles 578.9 One morning when we were preparing for a flight, I turned the trike camera on early while we were still in the hangar. Fred, who is a long time supporter of this project and a good friend, was watching and wrote us this note. Sitting here looking at the workshop area of the hangar I reckon, Listening without understanding to the banter while they put on their snowsuits. I’d love for one of those guys...

As the early-morning fog cleared at the Dunnellon airport in Marion County, Fla., and the temperatures slowly rose, 8-year-old Edon Palchar waited with his family to see whooping cranes for the very first time. The cranes, guided by an ultralight aircraft, were on their way to their winter homes at a wildlife refuge in Florida this week. Experts say there are only 350 of these rare birds left in the world. Their arrival is becoming an annual spectacle that draws thousands of bird lovers. Watching Live And On The Web For Edon Palchar, the coolest thing about the cranes is...

MILWAUKEE - All 18 young whooping cranes led south from Wisconsin by ultralight aircraft last fall were killed in storms that hit Florida, dealing a devastating blow to a project to create a second migratory flock of the endangered birds in North American, a spokesman said. The cranes were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River, Fla., when the storms moved in and intensified Thursday night, said Joe Duff, senior pilot and co-founder of Operation Migration, a nonprofit organization coordinating the project. "The birds were checked in late afternoon the day before, and...

AUSTWELL - While two sets of twins wintering on islands associated with the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge does not set a record, it is rare. In fact, it's the first time in 40 years the refuge has hosted two sets in one winter. Other new records have been set this winter. At latest count, 216 whooping cranes - including 33 chicks - have arrived to set new records for both the total number as well as the number of chicks. The record topples the one set last year of 194 birds. Twins have made it to the refuge 12 years...

AUSTWELL - Five additional endangered whooping cranes have joined the flock that winters here, breaking the new record of 189 set last week at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and the Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge. In his Dec. 17 fly-over, Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spotted 194 cranes, which is believed to be the highest number of whooping cranes at the Aransas refuge in 100 years. The record before this season was set in the fall of 1999 when 188 birds wintered there. "The new arrivals included one additional family group, bringing...

That secular/New Age environmentalists are untroubled by the natural destruction of the environment and animal rights activists are moved only by human cruelty suggests that environmentalists are less interested in conserving the environment than in destroying the works of man and that animal rights activists are motivated more by hatred of people than love of animals.