Annual Wisconsin-to-Florida whooping crane migration makes fitful start

[Donna]

Well, sort of.

All 20 young birds have left the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, where they have been taught to follow the aircraft over the past few months. But only some of them flew to the first stopover just 4 miles away.

The remaining eight were put into special crates and driven to the roundup point last week after foul weather and the birds' reluctance to leave their comfortable pen kept them grounded.

The fitful start to the more than 1,200-mile trek now puts the team from Operation Migration several days behind schedule in what has become the latest departure in the nine-year history of the whooping crane reintroduction project.

The team had set this year's departure date for Oct. 10 but didn't get any of the majestic birds out of the refuge until Oct. 16.

Organizers' hopes were high Monday morning that the weather would break and allow the ultralight crew to lead the birds to the next stopover, less than 20 miles away in southern Juneau County, Wis.

But the clouds hung too low, preventing the aircraft and birds to take to the air as a group for the first time.

Liz Condie, executive director for Operation Migration, tried to stay positive. "It's not unlike anyone else's situation,'' she said. "There are elements of everyone's work that are frustrating and hard to deal with.''

She said the hope is that somewhere along the flight, they can make up the time.

Condie said the setbacks just make the crew more appreciative when they make the final delivery of their precious charges.

"You can't do a project with wildlife and not expect the trials and tribulations because wildlife is never predictable,'' Condie said. "It almost doubles the appreciation you have when you've clearly accomplished what you've set out to do.''

She said that those with Operation Migration signed on for one specific task: to establish a flock of 125 migrating whooping cranes, including 25 breeding pairs. That's why the crew comes to work, she said, "with the hope that every year you're one step closer.''

The whooping cranes are bonded to the ultralights from Day One as sounds of the aircraft are played for the eggs. Once hatched, the crane chicks are reared by handlers in crane costumes so they never see people.

The cranes in the "Class of 2009'' represent the largest group of birds ever to be led to Florida. For the first seven years, the whooping cranes are led to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the Citrus-Hernando county line.

This is the second year that half the flock will be split in the Florida Panhandle to spend winter at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

In the spring, the cranes respond to their natural instinct to fly back north without assistance and many spend their summers back at the Necedah refuge in that general area.

Because of the efforts of Operation Migration and the other public and private groups that compose the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, there are 77 wild whooping cranes in eastern North America, part of the cranes' historic habitat.

The birds were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s; now there are thought to be about 500 whooping cranes in North America, with 350 of them in the wild.

Another migratory flock splits its year between the Texas Gulf Coast and northern Canada. About 30 nonmigratory whooping cranes live year-round in the Kissimmee area.

[Donna]

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -  Twenty whooping cranes led by four ultra-light aircraft are poised to fly over Central Illinois on their way to wintering grounds in Florida.

Liz Condie, a spokesman for Wisconsin-based Operation Migration, says the geese may be able to make the next leg of their flight as early as Saturday, but weather could stall them in northern Illinois for a number of days.

The geese need calm skies to fly daily legs averaging 50 miles, and warm temperatures mean southerly headwinds that slow their progress. They spent Friday in Winnebago County.

The next rest point is scheduled for LaSalle County, and a Livingston County stop is scheduled to follow a day later.

[Lizz]

Geese?  Am I extra "thick" today?

[Judi]

Geese?  Am I extra "thick" today?

    

I read that this morning when I was drinking my first cup of coffee and thought "HUH???"  I'm very happy to see that someone else thought the same thing as me!

 

[Donna]

A satellite-tracked Super Whooper swan has lived up to his name and completed the migration between Iceland and Scotland, flying 800km non-stop over the ocean in just 14 hours. The aptly named Supersonic Bill was just three hours short of the shortest ever recorded journey time by a whooper swan.
Supersonic Bill arrived at Caerlaverock on Monday, with mate C9U, just in time for the morning feed. The satellite data received today not only reveals the very quick journey, but also shows that he seemed to accelerate towards the end of his journey to Caerlaverock, almost as if he knew when the morning feed was due and wanted to make it in time. Caerlaverock Reserve Warden Richard Smith said: “We know that Supersonic Bill was travelling at 114kph past Auchencairn Bay on the Solway at 8am on Monday. He covered the final 25km in just 15 minutes before flying onto the whooper pond here at Caerlaverock to be greeted by me with a barrow of grain! Not surprisingly he looked a bit tired, but otherwise not bad given that he was in Iceland only the day before!�

The unseasonably mild conditions in mid to late October saw a lull in swan migration following the arrival on 7 and 8 October of Baldur, a WWT Welney bird, and K9H, a Caerlaverock bird to Britain after spending the summer in Iceland. Baldur has since shed his satellite transmitter, but we are confident he will soon turn up at Welney where we will be able to identify him by his leg ring. But as well as Supersonic Bill and his mate, today’s satellite data download shows us that three more of our 50 Super Whoopers have taken advantage of the colder snap since the weekend. Y6K, a Welney visitor, and Y5T (a yearling) – both tagged in Iceland in August, completed their migration to Ireland at the weekend, and Sigrunn – a WWT Martin Mere regular – arrived in Northern Ireland on 4 November.

[gayle]

A satellite-tracked Super Whooper swan has lived up to his name and completed the migration between Iceland and Scotland, flying 800km non-stop over the ocean in just 14 hours. The aptly named Supersonic Bill was just three hours short of the shortest ever recorded journey time by a whooper swan.
 

Lest there be some confusion, the Super Whooper discussed here is not a Whooping Crane.  It is a Common Crane or Euroasian Crane that is sometimes called a Whooper, one of fifteen species of cranes world-wide.  The Whooping Crane is a North American crane.  Most crane species are threatened or endangered.

Gayle

[Paul Hamilton]

The Super Whoopers (tm) website.  The Whoopers are Cygnus cygnus, it seems.
http://whooper.wwt.org.uk/whooper

Paul

[gayle]

The Super Whoopers (tm) website.  The Whoopers are Cygnus cygnus, it seems.
http://whooper.wwt.org.uk/whooper

Paul

Thanks Paul.  You dug deeper than I did!

Gayle

[Donna]

Somewhere in LaSalle County, Ill., 20 whooping cranes are awaiting better weather. The cranes are part of Operation Migration, a nonprofit group establishing a migrating flock of endangered whooping cranes that will nest in Wisconsin and winter in Florida.

The trip, which will drop off half the group at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and the other half in Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, 65 miles north of St. Petersburg, takes a total of 23 days of flight, not including stops for bad weather.

"The birds fly at about 38 miles per hour and the ultralights weigh about 400 pounds," said Joe Duff, Operation Migration co-founder and lead pilot, about the single person planes that lead the birds south. "It doesn't take much wind before you are not going anywhere."

For now, weather has the birds stuck in Illinois, only 170 miles into their 1,285-mile trip.

They began their flight Oct. 16 and are expected to arrive sometime between Thanksgiving and the end of January.

The cranes stop in Jefferson County before flying over the town of St. Marks (right after dawn). Afterward a meet and greet with the pilots and the public takes place. As many as 2,000 people came to watch last year.

"I think it is one of those things that gives people hope," St. Marks Refuge Manager Terry Peacock said. "We are trying to save a species from extinction."

Once in St. Marks, the cranes will be released into a pen with no top netting. Eventually, they learn they can fly away and by March, they begin their unaccompanied flight back to Wisconsin.

"The target is to start a self-sustaining population with 125 cranes and 25 breeding pairs," Duff said. Currently there are 77 birds in the flock and 12 breeding pairs.

A 2007 storm that killed 17 of the 18 birds taken to Chassahowitzka was the reason Operation Migration decided to split the flock, taking half to St. Marks for the first time in January 2009.

There is only one other migrating flock, a group of about 240 birds that nest in Canada and winter in Texas. Founded in 1994, Operation Migration's goal is to ensure the survival of the species in case something happens to the Texas flock.

[Donna]

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The annual whooping crane migration, which will bring the endangered birds through Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky, is under way.

Led by ultralight aircraft from Wisconsin to Florida, the 20 cranes hatched this year started their journey Oct. 16 from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and are now in northern Illinois. Locally, the birds are expected to make overnight stops in Wayne County, Ill., and Union and Marshall counties in Kentucky.

The group of 20 birds in this year's flock is the largest group in the nine-year history of Operation Migration. Today, there are an estimated 350 whooping cranes in the wild, up from fewer than 20 birds in the early 1940s.

Operation Migration's ultralights have escorted more than 100 whooping cranes on the 1,285-mile trip to imprint the migratory route on the juvenile birds. Officials with Operation Migration say that in flight, the trip takes about 23 days. However, weather delays typically stretch the journey over several weeks.

The birds are in Livingston County, Ill., today and will make stops in Piatt and Cumberland counties before reaching Wayne County in Southeastern Illinois later this month or in early December. It all depends on the weather.

The exact location of the stopover point in Wayne County will be kept secret until the birds are ready to lift off for their next destination.

The secrecy is imposed to keep human contact with the birds at a minimum. However, Operation Migration officials are expected to announce the birds' liftoff location so the public will have an opportunity to see the birds in flight as they begin the next leg of their journey.

After several weather delays last year, the skies cleared and the migrating birds skipped their stopover in Wayne County to make up time.

The birds' destination is the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Officials with Operation Migration say their goal is to reach a self-sustaining level of 125 birds and 25 breeding pairs.

[Dumpsterkitty]

I spotted this over on Birdchick

Operation Migration vandalized

Wisconsin State Journal Article


"The Operation Migration effort that is escorting young whooping cranes to refuges in Florida, already beset by weather-caused delays, received a major blow this week when a break-in and heavy damage from vandalism was discovered at its Necedah aircraft hangar..."

[Dot_Forrester]

I spotted this over on Birdchick

Operation Migration vandalized

Wisconsin State Journal Article


"The Operation Migration effort that is escorting young whooping cranes to refuges in Florida, already beset by weather-caused delays, received a major blow this week when a break-in and heavy damage from vandalism was discovered at its Necedah aircraft hangar..."

Aargh!  This makes me sick!!! 

Dot in PA

[Donna]

Published: Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 12:12 a.m.

Shoals residents should not be shocked next week if they happen to see a group of large birds following southbound ultralight aircraft.

It's not a remake of the movie "Fly Away Home" where a girl and her father teach a group of orphaned Canada geese how to migrate south for the winter. Instead, it will be the latest flock of whooping cranes to be led south by Operation Migration volunteers.

The whooping cranes that pass over the Shoals are headed to a wildlife refuge in Florida. After spending the winter there, the birds will be able to return on their own to a wildlife refuge in Wisconsin where they were raised.

Northwest Alabama became part of the migration route for the whooping cranes in 2008 when volunteers for Operation Migration, a Canada-based non-profit organization, led a flock of the rare birds from Wisconsin to Florida. The volunteers wear whooping crane costumes and use ultralight aircraft to lead the flights.

The young whooping cranes were hatched raised in captivity and must be taught the migration route. In a natural setting, their parents would teach the young whooping cranes the migration route.

From 2001 to 2007, the young whooping cranes were led from Wisconsin to Florida along a route that passed through eastern Tennessee and Georgia. The route shifted in 2008 to avoid having to fly over the Appalachian Mountains and to create a flyway for the birds. The new route includes stops in Hardin County, Tenn., and Russellville.

The migration reached western Kentucky Friday.

Liz Condie, chief operating officer for Operation Migration, said it is impossible to predict exactly when the birds will fly over the Shoals.

"We are at the mercy of the weather," she said. "We can only fly when the weather allows us to."

Strong winds make it dangerous to fly the ultralight aircraft. In 2008, the group spent more than two weeks in Russellville after bad weather and Christmas stalled the migration. A large crowd assembled at the Russellville airport hoping to watch the whooping cranes pass by each day the volunteers attempted to continue the migration. When the migration finally resumed on Dec. 29, many of the spectators gathered at the airport cheered as the cranes and ultralights flew past.

If the weather is perfect during the coming days, the flight could pass over the Shoals as early as Tuesday. A cold front that could spawn thunderstorms is expected to move through the Tennessee Valley early next week and the migration might have to be delayed. Daily updates about the progress of the migration are posted on the Operation Migration Website at operationmigration.org/FieldJournal.html

The effort to expand the whooping crane population is a joint effort of Operation Migration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies and organizations.

Whooping cranes, which grow as tall as 5 feet when mature, are one of the rarest birds in America.

Biologists believe about 1,400 whooping cranes lived in the United States in 1860. The whooping crane population declined because of hunting and habitat loss until 1941 when only 15 birds were left. Efforts were launched to protect whooping cranes, and by 1999, about 180 of the birds lived in the wild. That flock winters on the Gulf coast of Texas. In spring, they migrate to Canada.

Operation Migration and Fish and Wildlife Service officials hope that by establishing new migration routes, wintering and breeding ground for whopping cranes, the rare birds will be better protected than if they all lived in a single location and used the same migration route.

Caption:
Ultralight pilot Joe Duff leads a flock of six whooping cranes as they fly south after taking off at sunrise from a farm near Springfield in Washington County, Ky., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2001, where they had stopped for the night during their weeks-long migration from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to the Chassohowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. The cranes are on a 1,250-mile journey from Wisconsin to Florida that is part of an experiment to establish a migrating flock of the endangered species in the eastern United States.

[Donna]

They started out with 20 Whoopers: Led by ultralight aircraft from Wisconsin to Florida, the 20 cranes hatched this year started their journey Oct. 16

Now there's 6??? Where's the rest, they never said.   ??? ??? ???
 

[Bird Crazy]

Donna the picture caption say 2001 so its not a picture of this years flock.