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| Date: |
November 14th, 2005 - Day 32 |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
to compare Past Years |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click
for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Another day at Muscatatuck / Legislative update |
Notes: Another day will be spent at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. Our optimistic pilots were expecting a tailwind, but instead encountered a strong headwind. The crew will spend the day catching up on e-mails and other chores.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has officially introduced a resolution designating March 8th, 2006 as nationwide "Endangered Species Day" to raise awareness about the threats to endangered species and the success stories in species recovery. Your help is needed to help put Endangered Species Day on the calendar! Please call your Senators today and ask them to sponsor the Endangered Species Day Resolution.
We need senators' support as soon as possible, because the resolution is up for consideration by committee on Thursday, November 17th.
Endangered Species Day has added importance now, as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which for three decades has kept 99 percent of listed species from going extinct, is currently under attack in Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill seriously weakening the ESA. It is now up to the Senate to save the Endangered Species Act. Supporting Endangered Species Day is a great way for senators to show their commitment to protecting endangered species. |
| Date: |
November 13th, 2005 - Day 31 |
| Activity: |
Muscatatuck Takeoff?? |
Notes: Conditions may be favorable Monday morning for a takeoff from Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. If you would like to view takeoff please click here for directions listed in our November 11th entry. Again, this dawn-time departure viewing event is weather dependant and the decision to go, or not go, is made minutes before the birds take flight. Thanks for your understanding! |
| Date: |
November 13th, 2005 - Day 31 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
to compare Past Years |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click
for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Changing of top cover pilot |
Notes: We have now been at this migration for 31 days and covered only 439.1 miles or 14 miles a day. Last year was our longest migration ever, and we are now 143.7 miles behind that demoralizing record. The team is in good spirits, the equipment has performed flawlessly, our hosts have been gracious and generous and the birds, despite interruptions in their acquaintance with the aircraft, have followed as surely as if we ourselves were feathered. The only inhibitor in the whole equation is the one variable we can’t control or even influence, and therein lies the frustration. To the casual observer this has been a delightful autumn; record high temperatures with minimal rain but to airborne migrants it has been a constant battle against persistent winds. The air around high and low pressure systems rotates in opposite directions. We have been caught between the two in a churning mess of instability that takes place a thousand feet above the surface, and notable only if you have business there.
Each mile of the migration costs $184.00 but the costs goes up with every down day and this year we needed a break more than any time in the past. Historically the second half of our migration takes less time, but we are still in the open landscape of Indiana, and have yet to face the mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Don and Paula Lounsbury have been part of the Operation Migration team since the beginning. Don walked into Bill Lishman’s shop in Ontario in 1993 after hearing about his work on the nightly news. He drove the back roads until he found Bill’s home, and while we were assembling the first aircraft, he volunteered to help. He met and married Paula since we have known him, and they have become an integral part of the team. They celebrate their anniversary with us every year and without them there would be fewer Whooping cranes in the world. During a normal flight they monitor two radios; one tuned to the Air Traffic Control frequency and one tuned to ours. This keeps our channels open so the chase planes can tell the lead pilot what’s going on with the birds and where to expect the other aircraft. Only when we are spread out and our resources stretched, do we hear from Don and Paula. They take over as communication centre, spot missing birds, direct the ground crew to drop-outs, and find us an isolated place to land when we need to be on the ground.
Many of the fields we use are inaccessible to their Cessna and they often park at a nearby airport. They start their morning by providing the team with an early weather report, and are generally airborne before us. They circle a thousand feet above our ultralights and keep tabs on all of us until we reach our destination. Then they announce to the rest of the team that we are safely down while they return to the starting point to move their motorhome. Don drives while Paula flies to the nearest airport and they finally are established at the new site by late in the afternoon. We don’t always meet every day, and it’s sometimes as if they were flying a parallel migration. Their charm and enthusiasm for the project makes them an ambassador of Operation Migration, and they’ve made friends with many of the airport managers along the way.
This year Don and Paula have other obligations, and they will be leaving us in the next few days to drive back to Canada. They will be missed, but we hope to see them one more time at the end of migration in Florida. In the interim, Dave Mattingly has generously agreed to help us. Dave is a retired Captain from United Airlines (Sound familiar? What is it about retired airline captains that makes them so generous?) who has formed a non-profit called Touch Our Earth. They provide pilots and aircraft for humanitarian and environmental causes. Dave and his volunteers will provide top cover services for the remainder of the migration, and they already know it could be a long haul. We will miss Don and Paula until next year but are looking forward to this new partnership. Lets hope it’s not a trial by fire. |
| Date: |
November 13th, 2005 - Day 31 |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
to compare Past Years |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click
for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Housekeeping and Appeal Update |
Notes: The crew was kept firmly on the ground today due to strong south winds. "Windiana" is living up to its reputation.
It’s been a while since our last update on the “Will We Run Out of Gas?” email appeal. Response has been terrific, and more often than not, your pace of gift giving has outstripped our ability to process them. The generosity of supporters, both old and new, continues to warm our hearts, and renews hope for finishing the 2005 migration before the gas tank runs dry.
As you know, we started out still needing sponsorship for 584 miles, or $107,200. We happily report that we have processed contributions
totaling $80,322 - which equals 438 miles. This leaves just 146 unsponsored miles to go, and takes us so close to the Georgia-Florida border that we can almost taste the orange juice!!
We are getting so close that we can't help but wish to find a
generous donor who would take us the rest of the way - How about
that for a challenge? Take us the 146 miles left in the home
stretch and become a FloridaMaker! If this happens, you
will certainly read about it here!
The email appeal has given us many stories to tell, and
hopefully one day we will find a way to share them all with you. One such story is of members of organizations
like the Ornithological, Audubon, and The Wildlife Societies who, on learning of our circumstances, not only made substantial contributions, but circulated our appeal and issued challenges to their fellow chapters - some even offering to match these funds. Knowing the good work such organizations do, and how hard
they too must work to raise funds, we cannot help but be affected and humbled.
Please do not misinterpret our slowness with your tax receipts and our thank you letters as being a lack of gratitude. We are working flat out, and juggling the many additional priorities the migration season imposes on us. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
If you have seen us on TV, heard us on the radio, or read about us in print,
we would appreciate hearing from you. Please let us know by
mailing us the newspaper page, or E-mailing the TV or radio information to liz@operationmigration.org. A compilation of media coverage is an
important component of our year-end project report. Thanks! |
| Date: |
November 12th, 2005 - Day 30 |
| Reporter: |
Brooke Pennypacker |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Visiting with fans |
Notes: After a great flight down here yesterday, it was especially disappointing to wake up to unfavorable flying conditions today. Not that it wasn’t predicted. Yesterday, as with most days, I asked “Hey Chris, how about tomorrow?”
”No way,” was his reply.
But hope springs eternal, as they say, so we pulled Joe’s trike out of the hangar since it was his turn to be the “wind dummy.” Up into the dark sky he went, only to radio down to us, “We’re not going anywhere today - too much headwind.”
But it did give our crew the opportunity to go out into the refuge and meet all the folks that had gathered at dawn to watch our launch. With all the day-to-day challenges and duties of migration, we don’t often get the opportunity to meet and talk with the people that come out on dark, cold mornings to see the birds takeoff. This morning there were about 80 people waiting. We answered questions, talked about the project and hopefully lessened their disappointment. Their interest in, and enthusiasm for the project makes our whole crew feel much better, and that feeling will carry us through another “down day.”
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| Date: |
November 11th, 2005 - Day 29 |
| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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Click
here to compare Past Years! |
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Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Public fly-over at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge |
Notes: On Saturday morning there is a possibility that the migration will continue on to Kentucky. This possibility is weather dependent. If we do not fly Saturday morning, Brooke Pennypacker, and other members of the crew, will be on hand to give a talk and answer questions for visitors. If we do takeoff from Muscatatuck visitors will be treated the live spectacle of our migration! If you hope to watch takeoff in the morning here's some information to help you out.
How to get there: Muscatatuck is about an hour's drive from Louisville, Kentucky, and Indianapolis, Indiana, and is approximately 86 miles from Cincinnati, Ohio. The refuge is located on U.S. Highway 50, just three miles east of the I-65/U.S. 50 interchange at Seymour, Indiana. If arriving from I-65 use the Highway 50 exit that will take you east toward North Vernon. The main entrance on U.S. Highway 50 is marked with large brown signs. To view takeoff visitors should be in place by sunrise (about 7:20AM eastern time) On arrival visitors should continue 4-miles down the main road until they see Refuge staff members who will direct everyone to parking spots.
Please keep in mind our flights are weather permitting. Unsuitable weather can delay our departure by a day, or even days, depending on weather conditions. Thanks for your understanding and patience in this regard.
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| Date: |
November 11th, 2005 - Day 29 |
| Reporter: |
Richard vanHeuvelen |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
46.0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Rehashing this morning's flight. |
Notes: With the forecast being less than favorable, but still a possibility, everyone got up early. While the ground crew prepared for departure the pilots headed for the airport to ready the trikes. With everything ready to go we waited in the cold dawn for daylight. We had to let the sun come up before getting the trikes out of the hangar lest frost should form on the wings during engine warm-up. Joe led off with Brooke, and I followed with Chris bringing up the rear. Some chicks were already out as Joe flew past the pen for an air pickup. Some followed him from the pen, and others flew towards him, then turned around to follow as well. Three chicks were still in the pen, but followed Brooke out, and then turned and joined Joe’s trike as he turned to get on course. With all the chicks following Joe at a distance, it’s sometimes difficult to fly slow enough while the chicks catch up. One crane turned toward the pen . Brooke went after it and a few moments later the rest tried to follow as well. I cut them off to keep them from circling back to the pen. It was then that they formed up on my wing and, heading on course, I began a slow climb over Brown County, Indiana. It was important to get some altitude, as down low there was a stiff headwind. At about one-hundred feet above ground, we were making about twenty-two miles per hour ground speed. As we climbed the ground speed increased quickly, but I was so busy watching the birds, the GPS, and altimeter, it seemed like an eternity before we got to a respectable ground speed. Chris had promised better ground speed as we climbed and was out ahead climbing quickly to confirm this. Meanwhile, one bird turned back to join Brooke and his bird. With me leading seventeen birds and Brooke two, it wasn’t long before he and two chick, passed us up high. They had already found the promised increase in ground speed. With that in mind, we continued our slow climb. Twenty-six, twenty-eight, thirty-one miles per hour… this seemed to take a long time, but not really. Then one of Brooke’s chicks turned back and joined up with us. Now with eighteen birds, and approaching fifteen hundred feet, the chicks began to fly faster, and it was difficult at times to keep ahead of them. As we cleared two thousand feet, we were getting around forty miles per hour ground speed.
Then one dropped down low and fell back, so Joe moved in and picked it up. Chris moved in to keep watch over the procession. Now with Brooke well in front with one bird, me with seventeen, and Joe following with one, we all changed course for Muscatatuck. We had deviated off course to avoid the Atterbury military training area, and were now clear of it. This helped our ground speed slightly, as we continued our journey. The hills of Brown County passed below us, the leaves now mostly gone. It was hard to enjoy the scenery as 503 was constantly challenging the aircraft, with others happily helping him out. For a while 503 flew right in front of the nose of the trike. I watched him in wonder for a moment, his silent wing strokes causing a slight flutter through the trike. He craned his head back once in a while as if to see if I and the other chicks were still following. Ha! Now he new what it felt like to lead and keep watch at the same time. He must have sensed my thoughts, for he suddenly flew back and took up a spot on the wing. Other than the fact that it was difficult keeping ahead of the birds, it was a great flight on a beautiful morning, and everything went very well. The landing at Muscatatuck was uneventful. After putting the birds away, we lifted off again in our trikes. The refuge had kindly cleared out the maintenance building to store our aircraft. Before landing on the lawn beside the maintenance shop, I took a moment to enjoy the still air, doing graceful steep turns, feeling the air flow over the wing. Still pumped by the wonderful morning, I landed my trike on the lawn next to the maintenance shop.
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| Date: |
November 11th, 2005 - Day 29 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
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| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
46.0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
439.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Amazed by cranes |
Notes: The OM team is like the worst in-law story you’ve ever heard. We arrive en mass, with little notice at some ungodly hour in the morning. We take over the front yard, pilfer power for our trailers from any source, beg and borrow internet connections, restrict the use of the property even to the owners, and we can’t tell them when we’ll be leaving. Not complaining about this self-serving behaviour is the measure of Indiana generosity.
As the days dragged by in Morgan County, we began to worry that our extended stay would wear out our welcome. Our hosts, Kevin and Sheila must have sensed our concern, and they spoke to Aaron, the farm manager, who came over for a visit. He told Brooke that he felt like we were part of the family and not to feel like we were imposing. He made us feel like we were welcome as long as we needed to be there and we had an insight into just how charitable Midwesterners can be.
We kid about the weather here and refer to the state as Windyana, but the support this project receives from our hosts and others in the state is inspiring. If we have to be down for a week or more there is no better place. The birds were in a field isolated enough that we could let them out for exercise if we couldn’t fly, and the aircraft were tucked safely in a hangar 15 miles away, courtesy of Bob Burton of Twelve Oaks. Our hosts gave us the run of their cabin down by the lake, and all of us took advantage of the WIFI connections and the satellite TV.
It was my turn to lead and the plan was to conduct an air pick-up. We often use this method to avoid landing in muddy fields or taking off down wind. We fly low and slow over the pen and release the birds at the right moment. I set up my approach, and dropped down once I cleared the trees. Charlie, Kirill and Angie opened the gate but I was late. Some birds were already out while others were still inside. I flew slowly by as they took off after me but they were far behind. At the end of the corn field I turned sharply to the right, and they cut the corner gaining on me. I flew several “S” turns to bleed off speed, and they were catching us until one broke for home and Brooke gave chase. The others decided to turn back, but Richard was in the perfect position to cut them off and 18 birds formed on his wing. He began a slow climb while Brooke retrieved the last one. The air was cold at 28 degrees and we had a slight headwind, but the birds appeared strong as we passed through 1000 feet on our way up. With one bird, Brooke was able to climb faster, and soon he disappeared ahead of us taking advantage of a slightly diminished headwind at a higher altitude.
Richard had 6 birds off his left wing and 12 off the right in perfect formation. When his wing would move up or down, a wave would pass through the line of birds as if he was trailing a ribbon. This undulation looks like the slow-motion snap of a whip as the curl travels down the row of birds, often sending the last bird high above us as if cresting a white cap. If the motion reaches the last bird on the down stroke, it can send him below the aircraft in a position where he must work hard to catch up. This happened today to number 516, who found himself behind and below the group. I moved in to pick him up while Richard carried on with the rest. Chris moved in to fly chase for Richard, and in the next hour I slowly climbed to 3000 feet with my one bird.
Brooke arrived first and landed with his bird, while Richard flew a long slow approach with all of his birds following him in. As number 516 and I circled in a slow descent coming down from 2000 feet, I had an opportunity to study his flight methods. To descend quickly, cranes swing their legs forward, cup their wings, and almost stand up straight in the air. I never get tired of watching this display - the two of us, held in suspension, a thousand feet up, dropping at 500 feet per minute while I watch the feathers on the back of his wings curl up in a full stall. We circled three times like this until he finally landed with his flock mates. There were already three pilots and Mark on the ground, so I flew over and landed at the refuge’s maintenance shop where our camp was established.
I continue to be amazed at these birds. We worried about flying with a flock this large, but after being shut in the pen for more than a week, they all followed us to the next site with little resistance. Anyone who has followed this study will know that’s unusual.
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| Date: |
November 11th, 2005 - Day 29 |
| Location: |
Jennings County, IN |
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| Activity: |
Progress! |
Notes: 19 Whooping cranes have finally arrived at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge after a long wait in Morgan County, Indiana. Brooke led number 508. Joe escorted number 516, and Richard had the remaining 17 birds behind his aircraft. No cranes were boxed. We'll have more details on this morning's flight later today.
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| Date: |
November 10th, 2005 - Day 28 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
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| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
How do you tell when you have hit the bottom? |
Notes: Today is a sad day in camp for a number of reasons. We tried to fly this morning but, once airborne, we found that the air was very rough all the way up to 1500 feet. We have been held firmly on the ground by headwinds for the last week. Finally a high pressure system moved into the area so the winds are from the correct direction but this morning they were too strong. By tomorrow the center will have moved east and we will once more be on the wrong side facing headwinds again. We have been watching this pressure area for a week and when it finally arrived it passed so quickly we didn’t even get a chance to take advantage.
Today is our eighth day in Morgan County, nine if you count the day we arrived. Tomorrow we will set a record: the longest stay in one location since we started leading Whooping cranes in 2001. In fact this is the longest period any of our birds have gone without seeing the aircraft and that includes all the years of training at Necedah and all the migrations. And there is no light at the end of the tunnel. When they are sedentary in the pen for this long they get reluctant to leave and we can expect our next flight, whenever it happens, to be challenging. Very depressing, but not the worst of it.
Last night at roost check around 4:30pm, Brooke and Walter found 526 dead in the pen. It was still warm when Brooke removed it and carried it back. Our immediate reaction was to assume aggression between birds due to their long stay in one place, but usually that kind of fight results in multiple injuries that are very obvious. Number 526 only had one injury around the left eye and there were no signs of aggression in the other birds. They didn’t even seem ruffled. A brief field examination by Angie Maxted, our resident veterinarian, could shed very little light on the details, and 526 is now on its way to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison for a necropsy. Number 526 was our youngest bird, but was a strong, large male, a long way from the bottom of the dominance order. It is possible a disease or ingestion of a foreign object caused a collapse and the other birds pecked at him once he was down. He could have jumped up in the high winds blowing through the pen and hit his head on something hard. Or maybe, in one of their confrontations, another bird threw a lucky punch and knocked him out. There are stories of a Whooping crane killing an Indian hunter with a well-placed jamb to the eye and maybe that’s what happened, but it’s all speculation so far. Either way this long stay in one spot doesn’t help. Today we will let the birds out and walk them off to an isolated spot while we move the pen to a fresh site and avoid the fecal accumulation. This will give them time to exercise and help relieve the boredom that can lead to antagonistic behaviour. We will also give them a pumpkin to play with. Visiting the pen more often won’t help as they sometimes compete for our attentions. We will just do the best we can and hope the weather improves --- soon. Number 526 lived for 159 days and had not missed a single leg of the migration. He was large, healthy and impressive, and will be missed.
We also heard recently that number 304 died some time around October 23rd and was found on the Necedah NWR. The cause of death has not been determined and we are waiting for results from a necropsy. That leaves 41 white birds and 19 chicks.
It’s all a numbers game.
Whooping cranes can begin breeding at age 3, but are most likely to fledge their first chick when they reach five years. In the only naturally occurring flock that migrates between northern Canada and southern Texas, an experienced pair of good breeders will bring one chick south every other year. If the same equation is applied to our flock, that means that a bird must survive, on average, five seasons and 10 migrations in the wild in order to produce a single offspring. At an average of one chick every other year they must survive 7 years just to produce enough Whooping cranes to replace themselves, which equates to zero population growth.
A successful reintroduction of an endangered species depends entirely on the number of individuals that survive to reach breeding age and pass on their genetic heritage. If you have a reintroduced flock of 100 birds and only 20 are female, only 20 pairs can be formed and the viable population is, in reality, limited to 40 birds. The rest have no way to sustain their lineage.
If, in those 20 females and the 20 males they breed with, there isn’t a full representation of all the genetic material available, then the population is further limited.
If, in their learning of the migration route, they disperse too widely and do not frequent the core reintroduction area, their genetic pedigree could also be lost to the rest of the population. It’s all about the numbers.
The survivability of our birds depends on how well we prepare them for release. Isolating them from all things human keeps them wild and away from towns and cities. Encouraging them to roost in water keeps them safe at night. We can even vaccinate them against many avian diseases, but despite our best efforts there are things we can’t prepare them for like powerlines or bobcats.
During our 5 years working with Whooping cranes, among others, we have lost 5 birds to bobcats, three collided with our aircraft and two hit power lines and last night we lost 526 in the pen, possibly to aggression. But the most disheartening were the two that have been shot since this project began.
Through clubs, licence fees, taxes and donations, hunters and hunting groups are responsible for most of the conservation work conducted in this county. They protect habitat, promote good husbandry practices that ensures the survival of many species. The people who killed these birds carry guns and probably have hunting licenses but that is their only similarity to real hunters. There are a large number of people out there who feel they have a right to shoot anything that moves. Unfortunately they disguise themselves as hunters but they are not. They are instead cowardly, self-serving pillagers of the environment, who don’t have the integrity or the values of true hunters. How do you prepare a bird for that?
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| Date: |
November 9th, 2005 - Day 27 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
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| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Standing down/the final flyover |
Notes: Today is our 8th day in Morgan County. This matches the longest single stay of last year but all the amateur meteorologists on the team are confident we are out of here tomorrow. You will note that I did say amateur. Last night we watched the thunderstorms and the lightening show on the northern horizon, and this morning we woke late to strong winds and low ceilings. Another laundry day.
Unlike many species, Whooping cranes are territorial, both in their nesting area and on the wintering grounds. They don’t gather together in large numbers like Sandhill cranes, and a migrating flock will normally consist of the two parents and one chick. Once the offspring are on their own, they return to where they were hatched, and try to claim a territory for themselves. They fight their parents for the prime spot and usually set up housekeeping next door. In our case we now have 41 birds concentrated on three nesting grounds (our training facilities at Necedah) and one wintering site at Chassahowitzka. In Wisconsin, we chase them off as best we can, but there is no real fear of aggression or injury because our chicks are protected in the pen unless we are there with them training. In Florida however, the pens are not top netted and our chicks are free to come and go. This allows the older birds the opportunity to chase of the younger birds off and to steal food with impunity. But the habitat around the release pen is not ideal for Whooping cranes, and if the older birds arrive before we do, and they don’t find any young chicks to harass, or a free meal, they often wander off to more preferred locations.
The Winter Monitoring Team, led by Dr Richard Urbanek with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Sara Zimorski from the International Crane Foundation, are counting on this behaviour to ensure that the young birds have the release pen to themselves for the majority of the winter. Even if we arrive early and some of the older birds have not yet checked in at the winter site, the Monitoring Team wants to ensure there is no welcoming party there for them. This may mean postponing the arrival of the chicks for a month or so and that could be arranged by stopping them short of the final destination.
To that end, Billy Brooks, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Gainesville, has worked long and hard to identify inland marshes where another pen could be set up. This would act as a holding pen for a month or so, or as a new wintering release pen, if the older birds never do clear the Chassahowitzka site. Billy conducted an extensive search and evaluated each candidate, listing all the pros and cons. Eventually, we selected on a natural marsh at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve just south east of the town of Dunnellon, Florida. This 8100-acre site is managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and they have spent the early fall knocking down the brush and burning the area to restore the habitat to open freshwater wetlands. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has loaned us the portable pen they use to release their birds into the non-migratory flock, and by November 15th the site will be ready.
If we are late arriving in Florida (like that’s never happened) and the white birds have all visited the Chass pen and moved on, then we will use the Halpata site as a stopover, moving on to Chass the next day. However, if there are still older birds at the release pen, we’ll end our migration temporarily at Halpata. I say temporarily because by January 20th the Project Direction Team will have decided if it is appropriate to move the birds to Chass or leave them there.
The down side of leaving them there is the Halpata site is located in good crane habitat. If our 20 chicks spend the winter there, they will no doubt want to spend next winter there too, and we will be facing the same problem - white birds interfering with chicks. Also the good habitat could encourage them to wander, and they may not return to the pen at night and to the protection it affords. And, like the Chass site, there are bobcats around.
The downside of moving them to Chass is the danger involved in crating 20 birds and moving them 26 miles, not to mention the last few miles by boat. Additionally, with 41 white birds in the population, all having been led to Chassahowitzka, there is a good possibility that a few will drop in periodically over the winter only to find a good reason to stay, and all the effort will have been for naught.
To mitigate some of the danger of shipping birds, we will use our aircraft to lead as many as will follow us, the last 26 miles to Chassahowitzka. I have my doubts we can encourage them all to accompany us as it will have been over a month since they last saw the aircraft, and they may be out of practice. Many of our team members will be in Florida to attend the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership meetings in mid January, so that has been designated as the decision date. Either we attempt to move them, or leave them at Halpata.
All of this means that the fly over, normally scheduled for the Crystal River Mall, will be moved to the Dunnellon Airport.
This event is always necessarily short notice, but has become very popular. Last year we over flew a thousand people, all gathered to witness the arrival of the Class of 2004. Because Crystal River is a populated area and we still have 10 miles or more to go before arriving at the pen, we have had to maintain altitude, and some people have complained that they can hardly see us at 1000 feet or better. The area around the Dunnellon Airport in not built up and is only a few miles from the Halpata site. This will mean we will be a lot lower and the opportunity to see the birds will be better. Also, once we drop off the chicks, we will return to the airport in only a few minutes, whereupon the team will be glad to answer questions and meet the supporters.
The Outreach and Communications Team will ensure that a local radio station keeps people posted if you are interested in watching the flyover and we will keep you updated on this site. And who knows, maybe in January we will do another flyover at the Crystal River Mall.
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| Date: |
November 8th, 2005 - Day 26 |
| Reporter: |
Richard vanHeuvelen |
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| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
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| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Remembering the past 2 flights |
Notes: After being held down in one place for a week, you're left with a lot of time to think. Morgan County is beautiful this time of year, and touring the countryside is inspiring. Which leads to thoughts of recent flights. When we left Benton county conditions were questionable. After testing the air twice that morning we decided to go for it. Using the term "go for it " should have been our first clue. The fog had lifted somewhat, not entirely, but still within the limits of Visual Flight Rules. After some circling and confusion, the birds eventually began following us. I had six birds, Joe had seven, Chris escorted one and Brooke flew with five. After getting on course, and ten miles out, things deteriorated and we were forced to fly lower. It was too late to turn back as we had a good tailwind, which made getting back impossible. The flat terrain of Indiana gave us many options if we needed to land but that would, no doubt, draw the attention of curious farmers so we pushed on at tree top level. At that altitude the air became very turbulent, and number 503 landed in a field. I left him there knowing Mark was nearby and ready to pick him up. We were only ten miles out. At six miles out the fog seemed to lift somewhat and even though the trike was rocking to and fro, we were relieved. After landing with the birds I looked over to see Chris get out of his trike to mockingly kiss the ground.
The next day was perfect except for frost on our wings. After defrosting and waiting patiently in the morning sun, we were able to lift off.  At first we were greeted by a headwind which quickly turned into a tailwind and smooth air. This turned out to be a banner flight, probably the best yet from Boone County to Morgan County since the project began. After our experience in the fog the day before, sitting down for a week seems a small price to pay for calm air.
This morning we let the chicks out of the pen to fly around. I'm always amazed when they come in for a landing. Their long legs dangling down, wings set for slow decent. Click here to view a few photos.
|
| Date: |
November 8th, 2005 - Day 26 |
| Reporter: |
Mark Nipper |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Waiting, Waiting, Waiting. |
Notes:Well, we are down again. By this time I don't know if we even expect to go in the morning. The birds are doing fine out in their pen. If we have to be down... this is a great place for us to be down. The birds are in a secure place and we do not have to worry much about any trouble at the pen.
|
| Date: |
November 7th, 2005 - Day 25 |
| Reporter: |
Charlie Shafer |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Standing down again. |
Notes: The weather reports for this morning were forecasting light winds out of the south and west. We thought that we might have a window this morning to fly the birds to the next stop at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, we awoke to a thick fog blanketing our current Morgan County stop. As the fog lifted, the pilots took off to test the air for turbulence and measure the flight time to our next destination. Once airborne and at altitude, they were greeted by a 15 mph head wind from the south. The flight would have taken far too long and the birds are reluctant to follow the ultralights in such a strong head wind. So we are standing down yet again in Morgan County.
|
| Date: |
November 6th, 2005 - Day 24 |
| Reporter: |
Chris Gullikson |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Waiting for our window of opportunity. |
Notes: A powerful storm system swept across Indiana early this morning bringing high winds, hail, and even a few tornado reports to southern Indiana and Kentucky. Richard, Charlie, and I sat in darkness for hours while the winds shook the motor home and the continuous lightning gave us brief glimpses of the trees straining against their roots. One mature tree actually did come down just 100 feet away from us. We went out to check the birds at first light and were relieved to find no damage to the pen and all the birds looked relaxed and happily playing in the standing water.
Today, again, we were unable to make progress due to high winds. We may have a small window of opportunity to fly tomorrow morning as high pressure builds in from the west, but this is forecast to move east of us quickly, leaving us once again in a southerly flow. The forecast for the rest of the week does not look promising and looks suspiciously familiar to the past week with a tight pressure gradient across the Ohio Valley keeping the winds southerly and temperatures well above normal.
|
| Date: |
November 5th, 2005 - Day 23 |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Standing down/ update on Aransas flock |
Notes: Another day will be spent here in Morgan County. Strong south winds have once again prevented flight.
Gerald Murphy, who has been filling in for Walt Sturgeon since October 28th, returns to his home in Florida today. Soon Walt will rejoin migration after spending some time in Spain attending a meeting of the International Wild Waterfowl Association, an organization Walt is the President of.
An aerial census of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas on November 2nd estimated the number of whooping cranes present as 113 adults plus 14 young for a total of 127. With an estimated 235 whooping cranes expected to arrive at Aransas this winter, this means approximately 54% of the flock has completed the migration.
A strong Pacific cold front crossed Texas on the evening of October 31. The leading edge of the front provided excellent migration conditions throughout much of the flyway October 31 and November 1.
Reports of whooping cranes scattered throughout the migration corridor are still coming in. Most of the birds had departed from northern Canada by October 22 when temperatures got well below freezing.
|
| Date: |
November 4th, 2005 - Day 22 |
| Reporter: |
Bill Lishman |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Flashback to 2000 |
Notes: During the fall of 2000 Operation Migration conducted a test migration with a flock of Sandhill cranes. This had two main purposes. One was to see if a species of crane would use this migration route. The second purpose was to make sure our route was appropriate for the more endangered Whooping crane. This practice flight helped iron out many kinks before our crane cargo became more valuable.
Below are two Journal entries I wrote during this 2000 test migration while in central Indiana. I hope you enjoy!
October 12th, 2000
The next leg started as routine. Airborne just before sun up and on a southerly heading, we cruised smoothly over the brightly lit Indian summer of Indiana. I stayed high for a time observing the two trikes and the string of birds as their shadows painted an imaginary stroke across bean fields, pastures, corn fields, freeways, railway tracks, horse farms, woodlots, shopping centers, sleepy villages, and a variety of indefinable properties.
This time we had a little headwind and the ground speed was not what we had become accustomed to over the past few days. In August I had picked a hay field at about thirty-two miles out, and the evening prior we had alerted the field’s farmer that we might be stopping. But, as we approached, the birds seemed in good form and we opted to continue on to the Bluebird Field. Through Don on high in the Cessna, the farmer was contacted just prior to our passing over and was informed that we would be doing just that. Throttling back, I dropped down, and like a swallow cruising for insects, skimmed the proposed landing spot. I saw the farmer and his son standing on the back porch and I signaled to them to look up where Deke and Joe and their 12 wards cruised a thousand feet above.
A few wooded drumlins began to herald the beginnings of a more interesting landscape. Back at an altitude above the birds, the urban towers of downtown Indianapolis made up the easterly horizon. Our route kept us outside of the Indianapolis air space. Bluebird Field (no longer used by our migration team) hid in the center of a corn field nestled behind a two hundred foot high east-west drumlin and did not reveal itself until I was almost over it. The easterly third of the strip shimmered with water, the remnants of a downpour, that less than a week ago, within an hour or two, had dumped eight inches of rain. There was ample room to land on the westerly two thirds but there was someone walking out on the runway. Circling counterclockwise I did a low inspection waving to the man, who got the idea and strolled off the westerly end. Another circuit and I gingerly skimmed on to the soggy field – fortunately it was only damp and the tires did not sink in. It was only moments later that Deke and Joe appeared over the ridge with birds in close formation, doing a perfect landing to the west. It had taken almost two hours to cover the 53 miles. It was another good leg.
The owner of the property is an aircraft mechanic for a large airline and has a hangar with a pair of classics fully restored - a late 1940's Piper Cub and a similar vintage Aronca Champ. When Dan and Richard showed up with the pen vehicle I pointed them to the rice paddy end of the runway. The two bird leaders had led the cranes off down the edge of the corn field. Erecting the pen in the shallow water would give the birds a new dimension, after all, they do have long legs for wading. Unfortunately, the trailer got off the hard ground of the runway and sank up to the axle in mud. A long rope was found, and with a large degree of struggle we were able to extricate it.
October 13th, 2000
Now clear of the Indianapolis air control zone our next leg veered more easterly. We arose to a clear sky above and fog on the ground. The question was, is it fog or mist? At the westerly end of the strip it was almost clear. I got in the air first and saw that the vapour was only thin in the valleys. Joe was hesitant but launched to the west, while I circled over the ridge and watched the two craft and birds appear ghost-like out of the vapours. Since leaving the Wisconsin border we have been cruising over what geologists refer to as the Midwest Craton. This is a layer of soil over virtually undisturbed flat bedrock that has remained boringly stable for hundreds-of-millions of years. Then we cruised over what used to be part of Canada, the southerly terminus of the last ice invasion. The earth and rocks that had once been Lake Ontario tumbled to their final resting ground here where the melting ice had let it be. It is again like the terminal moraine of Wisconsin. At just above tree-top we flew over rolling hills intertwined with rivers and dotted with lakes. This land is covered with a blanket of oak, maple, walnut, and a variety of other hardwoods, in a cacophony of reds, oranges and yellows. The mist whispering through the shapely valleys was highlighted by the morning sun, and the shadows of the hardwoods drew long colourful streaks through these scarves of mist.
In just ten minutes under an hour we arrived at our next scheduled stop. The mists dissolved into clear sunlit air. Somehow my GPS coordinates were a little off and I found myself searching for the runway. Fortunately Paula, who was the pilot of the Cessna on this leg, (She and Don take turns, one driving, and towing their travel trailer while the other flies) pointed me to the field and we landed beautifully on a dew-covered undulating runway again hedged by a tall patch of corn and surrounded by woods. We were on the edge of the Hoosier National Forest. (Another spot we no longer use) The hostess and her neighbors awaited us under a large walnut tree near their rustic home at the southwest end of the clearing. I think it was a wonderful spot, but it became obvious that a nearby highway produced a great deal of traffic noise. There seemed no escaping human intrusion. Fog and headwind forced us to rest for three days at this location.
We were made most welcome by a high-spirited community who claimed the only time you need to lock your car in this county is in the fall when well-meaning neighbors want to fill it up with oversized zucchinis. Some of the crew had real beds in local homes and we were all treated to real showers. Dan found a good fishing spot and spent several hours catching and releasing. Each evening a potluck dinner was thrown with the crew as guests. On the last evening the local storyteller invited us to his campfire, made with several huge tree trunks that he must have ignited the week before we arrived. Much local history was colorfully revealed that evening.
|
| Date: |
November 4th, 2005 - Day 22 |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Teaming up with weather.com |
Notes: Before the sun rose this morning the crew in Morgan County knew this would be a "no go." The rush of northward air rattled the crackled leaves of oaks, towering over he crews' parked RV's. This wind is a sure sign of standing down another day.
Operation Migration has teamed up with weather.com to offer you something we think you will appreciate. You tell us all the time how much you enjoy our photo journal – so we are pretty sure you will REALLY enjoy seeing the migration action on video! Since we can’t take you all on migration with us – we thought this would be the next best thing. And there’s more! Soon you will also find a still image story board that conveys the project’s story in pictures, and keep an eye out for weather.com’s blogs for commentary by their writers.
Click here to visit to weather.com’s website....and enjoy the 2005 Whooping crane Migration Show!!!
|
| Date: |
November 3rd, 2005 - Day 21 |
| Reporter: |
Liz Condie |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Down day |
Notes: Strong winds from the south have prevented a flight today from Morgan County to Jennings County and the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge.
The Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge enables us to offer Operation Migration and Whooping crane supporters a viewing opportunity of takeoff from the refuge. Muscatatuck's nine miles of roads are open seven days a week and it is an exceptionally fine bird watching site. Located in south central Indiana, the refuge covers 7,724 acres near Seymour, and includes a 78-acre parcel, known as the Restle Unit, near Bloomington. Special management emphasis here is given to waterfowl, other migratory birds, and endangered species.
How to get there: Muscatatuck is about an hour's drive from Louisville, Kentucky, and Indianapolis, Indiana, and is approximately 86 miles from Cincinnati, Ohio. The refuge is located on U.S. Highway 50, just three miles east of the I-65/U.S. 50 interchange at Seymour, Indiana. If arriving from I-65 use the Highway 50 exit that will take you east toward North Vernon. The main entrance on U.S. Highway 50 is marked with large brown signs. On arrival, (by 7:15am) visitors should continue 4-miles down the main road until they see Refuge staff members who will direct everyone to parking spots.
Please keep in mind our daily flights are weather permitting. Unsuitable weather can delay our arrival by a day, or even days, depending on flying conditions. Thanks for your understanding and patience in this regard.
|
| Date: |
November 2nd, 2005 - Day 20 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
|
| Location: |
Morgan County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
55.2 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
393.1 Miles
|
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Getting down to the business of migration. |
Notes: It's great when a plan comes together. It only took ten years of preliminary studies, a partnership with the Federal Government, a hundred permits, lots of hard work by a dedicated team and the support of many of you. But today it all worked.
Our flight this morning was the culmination of all those things not to mention 20 incredible birds. Winds were forecast to be out of the south so we were slow to get moving this morning expecting to be down for another day. We cleaned the frost from the wings and took off to find that the air was smooth and, surprise of surprises, drifting slowly from the northwest. The pen was situated in a field surrounded by trees and Brooke dropped down low and passed slowly by as the ground crew released the birds. They were slow to come out so Brooke did a tight turn inside the tree line and tried again. "Swamp monsters" were used to motivate the reluctant ones. Once in the air, Brooke did two more turns before he had enough altitude to clear the trees. This constant circling around the pen confused a few birds who wanted to land but the fearsome swamp monsters on the ground kept them airborne as Brooke went around again. Richard and I moved in where we could to help collect birds and start them on course.
We have been attempting to encourage number 516 to rejoin the flock and our strategy has been to release it in the morning with the others. We expected it to fly for a while and then turn back but that short flight would be the physical therapy it needed to build endurance. The problem is that when it turns back others are apt to follow and this happened a few times before we finally got them on course.
Once we had them all going in the right direction we started our count to see if any were left behind. I was out front with 13 and Brooke fell in behind with one. Richard managed to pick up 6 and was a few miles back while Chris flew chase for him. One bird dropped low behind Richard and Chris moved in. After collecting the bird, he realized he had 516. When a bird is flying behind the wing of one of our aircraft it can derive all the benefit created by the wake and 516 took up that position. He would break once in a while and turn back but Chris managed to coax, encourage and cajole him in to stay with him. Several times during the flight it dropped low or just veered off in another direction but he always came back with Chris' help
The sun was well up by that time and it began to heat the ground, causing the thermals to begin so the air down low was not as smooth as it had been. Don and Paula circling overhead reported a 9 mile per hour tailwind but that was at 1500 feet and we had a long way to go to get up there. We climbed with our respective charges to 1000 feet and picked up a 10 mile per hour tailwind. Don and Paula cleared us through the western edge of Indianapolis airspace and we sat back in bright sun, smooth air with a ground speed of 50 plus miles per hour. We did a long slow descent over our destination and after an hour and twenty minutes we landed next to the pen that the team set up yesterday. Birds are creatures of habit and they are now used to the routine. Normally we have to entice them into the pen with treats like grapes or cranberries but today we just opened the gate and most walked straight in. Once they had water and feed we set up the electric fence perimeter wire and took off again. We flew to a neighbours a few miles away who generously offered the use of his hangar. So by 1:00 PM the birds were home, the aircraft tucked away safely and the camp was established. Now that’s the way it’s supposed to work, and it only took ten years of experience to figure it out.
|
| Date: |
November 2nd, 2005 - Day 20 |
| Location: |
Between Boone
County, IN and Morgan County, IN |
|
| |
|
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| |
|
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
In the air! |
Notes: Frost caused a short delay this morning, but now 20 Whooping cranes are on their way to Morgan County, Indiana. As of 8:49 AM Eastern time Richard had five birds, Joe had 13 birds, Brooke had one bird and 516, who has been recovering from a sore wing, was with Chris. Early in the flight 516 was challenging Chris' aircraft for lead position. Later in the flight Chris reported that 516 appeared a bit tired. We'll have more details of this morning's flight later today.
|
| Date: |
November 1st, 2005 - Day 19 |
| Reporter |
Mark Nipper |
|
| Location: |
Boone
County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
49.1 Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
337.9 Miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
A bird in the bush |
Notes: We squeaked through to Boone County, Indiana today. It was rather windy and visibility was poor too. The tracking van had left ahead as usual and I was about five miles down the road and already it wasn’t sounding good over the radio. Birds and planes were all over the place but the pilots rounded them up eventually and got on course to the next stop. Richard had six birds, Joe had seven, Chris had one, and Brooke brought up the rear with five birds. Brooke is often the guy left in the dust fighting with the most stubborn of birds and usually comes out as the hero getting them to follow after a huge effort. 516, once again, did not make the trip.
With about ten miles left, 503 landed in an agricultural field. This bird had been struggling to keep up for about ten miles or so. After arriving at the scene, shortly after it landed, I began to determine which field the bird was in using the radio signals, but this became very strange. The signal kept sounding like the bird was flying for short periods. This happened several times when all of sudden the signal was back the other way and there was a bird crashing around in a thick hedge row between these two immense fields. Poor 503 was thoroughly tangled up in some pretty nasty vines and was understandably rather upset about it. After freeing it, and getting it out to the field, it became obvious that it didn’t really want to be in the field, and wanted to hide in the tree line. This ended up working out just fine because there was no way that one person was going to get back to the van and get a crate and get back to the bird without it seeing everything. I placed a vocalizer in a branch of a tree with a clearing of nice moss bedding underneath. The welcoming brood call made 503 rather happy and allowed me enough time to get the crate out.
A big "thank-you" is in order for our hosts in Benton County. Beyond alowing us to camp on their property for many nights, they also, once again, helped pull our mobile pen out of the mud!
|
| Date: |
November 1st,
2005 - Day 19 |
| Location: |
Boone County, IN |
|
| |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
Click here
for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Fog delay...but progress! |
Notes: After a fog delay the pilots were able to make progress
today into Boone County, Indiana. 18 birds flew the whole route. 516
was allowed to fly, but opted to fly back to the pen in Benton
County. 516 has been crated for ground transport to Boone County.
Another bird dropped out 6 miles from our Boone County location and
has been transported as well. We'll have more details about this
morning's flight later today. |
| Date: |
October
31st, 2005 - Day 18 |
| Reporter |
Angie Maxted |
| Location: |
Benton
County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0
Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
288.8
miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Update on 516 |
Notes: We’ve been down a few days now here in Benton County, Indiana, and it seems like wherever the crew goes we get asked about how number 516 is doing. We reported several days ago that 516 did not want to extend his right wing and did not attempt to fly with the other chicks when we let them out of the pen on the 25th for some exercise. After careful evaluation that day, we were able to determine that he probably had strained or sprained his carpal joint a week previously when he tangled with Brooke’s trike, and that joint was now getting stiff as it healed. He has been receiving piroxicam for pain control since the injury was discovered. Also, for the last several days he has been receiving a personal exercise session in the mornings, and physical therapy on his wing in the evenings (click here to see photos). For physical therapy, we have been putting a warm compress on his right carpal joint for about five minutes, then work his wing on passive range of motion exercises until his joint loosens up. The first day we started the therapy his wing was relatively stiff and it took some time to work out the stiffness, but saturday night his joint was able to be fully extended right away and he needed only limited physical therapy. During his exercise sessions, we let him out of the pen by himself and run with him to encourage him to fly near the pen. At first he seemed a little awkward and was reluctant to extend his wing fully, but yesterday he flew about 100 yards or so 6 or 7 times and looked great. The crew is very encouraged by his willingness to fly, at least around the pen, and we are going to encourage him to fly with the rest of the group on our next leg of the journey once the wind dies down. For the last 5 legs he has made all or most of the journey in a crate, and we hope that he will soon have the strength and the stamina to keep up with the other birds. Our obvious goal is to get him back on track as soon as possible, and he continues to look better every day. |
| Date: |
October
31st, 2005 - Day 18 |
| Reporter |
Joe Duff |
| Location: |
Benton
County, IN |
|
| Distance Traveled: |
0
Miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Accumulated Distance: |
288.8
miles |
Click here for a map of our migration. |
| Activity: |
Waiting for the winds to turn. |
Notes:It’s Halloween so trick or treat. The trick is we reintroduce Whooping cranes and the treat is we get to go home - someday.
If we have to be stuck somewhere in headwinds, we would rather it be here in Benton County, Indiana. Our hosts are generous to the point of emptying their drive shed to allow us to wedge our four aircraft in out of the wind. But more importantly, the birds are penned in an isolated field far from buildings or other human environments. We can let them out for regular exercise with little fear of disturbance, and even work at number 516’s much needed physical therapy. For us it is a little remote; the nearest town is 18 miles away with not much to offer. It is a good time to catch up on maintenance, reports and all the house cleaning duties that come with being on the road. There is even time to watch one of the videos we found in a boredom-box sent to us by supporters.
Wind rotates around a high pressure area and we are on the back side of this one. The entire system has stalled, so we have been facing a few days of headwinds before we will be able to move again. The landscape here is flat and there are few geographic features to interfere with the movement of the wind. It can be blowing briskly on the ground but a few hundred feet up it can be smooth. If it is blowing from the right direction we can take off in air we normally wouldn't trust, but today it is coming straight out of the south.
At least it is not one of those days that teases the crew into thinking we have a chance. The kind that make you get up early and defrost the wings only to send an aircraft up to get bounced around. Then, when we finally decide it is a down-day the wind drops and the taunt begins again. These mornings you can hear the wind even before we get up and there is no doubt about our progress for the day.
There is an independent nature to a crew who will dedicate their time to save a species from extinction, and to say there are more leaders here than followers is an understatement. Too much down time is a dangerous thing, especially when it's Halloween and we already have our costumes.
 We passed by a house in a nearby town with a variety of Halloween lawn ornaments. Some of these decorations looked strangely familiar, and a little bit spooky. Even more scary, during takeoff from Kankakee County, we had an unexpected intruder in our flight. Luckily the cranes were unfazed by this bizarre moment. The intruder then swerved to the west and disappeared. Maybe she realized we were migrating with a wetland species and wanted to stay dry?? Strange things happen during Halloween! Click here for a closer look.
|
| Date: |
October
30th, 2005 - Day 17 |
| Reporter |
Gerald Murphy |
| Location: |
Benton
County, IN |
| Distance Traveled: |
0
Miles |
Click
here to view the 2005 Migration Photo Journal. |
| Accumulated Distance: |
288.8
miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Activity: |
Grounded again |
Notes: It's a beautiful morning in Indiana, but southern winds are too strong for the birds and team to make progress today. We take consolation in the fact that our location here in Benton County is one of the most isolated stops on migration. The birds are in safe accommodations far from any human influence. A vast majority of the corn fields here have been harvested, so the cranes are unlikely to see any human activity, which is important to keep the birds wild and unacclimated to humans.
Mark, Angie, Charlie, and Kirill will finish medicating the cranes today (15 of 20 birds completed). This is a routine medication and does not indicate any health problems. Our hosts have invited us for a fish fry tonight which we're all looking forward to. This is an annual event which we have come to appreciate.
Walt Sturgeon was taken to the Chicago Midway Airport yesterday to continue on to a European conference, and I was picked up an hour later and will be taking Walt's place at least until he returns. I was with migration for the full trip last year and will be performing the same duties - driving the white truck and pulling the Nomad travel trailer - the home for four (or five) of the team during migration. |
| Date: |
October
29th, 2005 - Day 16 |
| Reporter: |
Joe Duff |
| Location: |
Benton
County, IN |
| Distance Traveled: |
0
Miles |
Click
here to view the 2005 Migration Photo Journal. |
| Accumulated Distance: |
288.8
miles |
Click
here to compare Past Years! |
| Activity: |
Introductions to the 2005 crew |
Notes: Mark Twain once said that success is a matter of luck and the harder you work, the more luck you have. This is certainly the case with the Whooping crane reintroduction. Following a protocol as strict as ours is a hard discipline and the more dedicated the crew is to this procedure, the more birds survive to be released. Eighty percent of the birds we taught to migrate are still alive and that is a direct result of the people on this team. The crew has evolved over the years and this season we have many seasoned veterans and added a few new members.
 It is hard to believe I have known Richard Van Heuvelen for better than 15 years. He has worked with Bill Lishman most of his life building underground houses, airplanes, sculptures and all the things that were a part of Bill’s career. He has many talents but the most outstanding is his ability to make solid steal bend to his will the way the rest of us would shape tinfoil. Richard is a practitioner of practical application. While the rest of us are calling 1-800 numbers to get advice from the manufacturers, Richard will use simple tools to make the needed correction while we’re still on hold. He can create, modify, repair or redesign just about anything and we use his skills often. For many years he would join our team every fall to lead the ground crew during the migration. His duties kept him too busy to consider flying but as our operation grew, so did his interest. Once airborne we haven’t been able to get him back on the ground and now we take advantage of another of his talents. There is a trust among the few who fly closely together while leading birds. Richard is a respected member of that team and has earned his Masters in Migration.
 Brooke Pennypacker has a long and colourful history that is revealed, an ounce at a time, in the stories he tells. He begins by relating an anecdote to illustrate a point and adds detail for background and humour to sustain interest. One tale begets another and soon he has the attention of the room as he captivates us all and divulges another episode of his past. Like Richard, Brooke is self-motivated, believing that things get done when you do them. In the air he is dedicated to the birds and is reluctant to leave stragglers for the ground crew to retrieve. Often he is the last to arrive as he nurses a few tired and discouraged birds to the destination. Brooke has a degree in English Literature but is the most reluctant of writers. He also has the respect of the entire team but is the last to acknowledge it.
 Chris Gullikson’s interest in flying began, like a number of people, with Powered Parachutes. And, like some, he soon became bored with the lack of speed and switched to weight-shift ultralights. Like with everything he tackles, he digs deeper than most and soon becomes an instructor. One day while flying near his home, he happened upon one of our migration stops while we were approaching. Not wanting to interfere or cause a distraction he landed in a field to get out of the way and later emailed an apology for any disturbance he may have caused. We invited him to visit and the friendship began. Non-profits like Operation Migration are not able to pay large salaries for talented staff but over the winter we negotiated an arrangement that is more to our advantage than his. The qualifier is that he had never worked with birds before and we thought it would be some time before he would be useful. But that was an underestimation and a mistake you can easily make with Chris. He is quiet and humble and willing to listen and that often belies his extensive knowledge. Like all of us in the crew - self-taught and motivated, he knows a little about a lot of things, but Chris is more apt to listen than talk and it is only after encouragement that the extent of his expertise is revealed. He is an expert weather forecaster and leads Storm Chasing tours on the side. He has an engineering degree in electronics, and works with his father building high quality saddles. He has an understanding of birds more intuitive than learned and in short order has become a member of the trusted team.
 Bill Lishman was the first person to fly with birds almost 20 years ago. He is the co-founder of Operation Migration and a promoter of its cause. He is now the Chairman of the Board of Directors and assists with fundraising. Considering the large number of birds we have this year, Bill agreed to participate in the migration as a scout pilot long enough to get us underway. He flies an ultralight that looks the same as the rest but has a larger engine and a faster wing. It is too fast to lead birds but perfect for flying chase. He can speed ahead or double back and lend a hand even when we get spread out. He can pick up lone birds and carry them back to the flock or mark the spot where one landed and direct the ground crew. Bill has had a multifaceted career primarily centered around sculpture but he has worked successfully at many other art forms from architecture to film making and others too extensive to list. His long history, easy charm, warm humour and knack for telling entertaining stories puts him in high demand on the speaker circuit and makes him a welcome addition to the migration team.
 Mark Nipper is now in his fourth season with Whooping cranes. He began as an intern and was instantly liked by all. It is often said, by people who know, that if there is a way to hurt itself, a Whooping crane will find it. There are so many aspects to their daily care and training that we needed someone to oversee it all. Mark is our Supervisor of Field Operations but his authority is not in the title, it is in the knowledge he has accumulated and the respect he has earned. His dedication and diligence extends past the care of birds to concern for the people and supporters of this project. He goes out of his way to ensure they are entertained, enlightened and thanked. He is conscientious, congenial and competent.
 Charlie Shafer once worked for ICF and is now an aviculturalist with Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. He helped conduct the early training in Maryland and spent a large portion of his summer in Necedah and now he has agreed to accompany us on migration. Charlie bears the weight of all this time away from home with quiet discipline and I can’t say I have ever heard him complain. He is always dependably cheery and has an encyclopedic memory without the know-it-all attitude that normally accompanies that quality.
 We are very privileged to have Angie Maxted with us this year as an intern because she is a fully accredited veterinarian. The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership Health Team has provided us with a list of veterinarians along the route who have agreed to help if we have an emergency. Having Angie along gives us the reassurance that our birds are healthy even before a problem shows up but it is not the only advantage. Angie is dedicated to the birds and ready to help with any task. She is always friendly and never fails to tackle the hard jobs and her bus driving experience makes driving one of our motorhomes a breeze.
 I first met Jeff Huxmann in 2001 when he volunteered his skills as a videographer to the project. We are always apprehensive about the media because most of them don’t understand our strict isolation protocol and a few think it applies to everyone but them. Jeff has been a staunch supporter, defending our methods to others and working within the restrictions we place in his way. He is deeply concerned about the environment and is motivated more by his desire to help than an ambition to get rich. Jeff is joining us this year to provide outreach services, keep the supporters updated and provide footage for the Weather Channel website. Starting next week weather.com will post regular updates on our migration with streaming video filmed by Jeff. Jeff is easy going and a welcome addition to our team and easy to find. If you need him, just listen for the laughter.
 Walter Sturgeon is the Assistant Director of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, the President of the Whooping Crane Conservation Association and the President of the International Wild Waterfowl Association. He has also made 20 research trips to the Canadian Arctic. In fact, he has more credentials than any of us, but his primary qualification comes without a title. Walter has raised cranes for 30 years and keeps a flock of 40 birds at his home. He has become a celebrated name in the conservation of Whooping cranes Last year he volunteered to help us during part of the migration and this season he will be part of the team for the entire trip, no matter how long it takes. Walter is jovial, charming and always happy. He drives one of our large trucks pulling a 36-foot trailer, he assembles pens, cares for birds, helps to fuel aircraft and is the first to sweep the floor when it is needed. In fact he is willing to help wherever he can and not shy about getting messy. We are honoured to have him as a team member.
 Don and Paula Lounsbury are as much a part of this project as anyone. They have participated in every migration from the beginning and have now spent over a decade migrating. They volunteer their time, motorhome and aircraft to the cause along with their good spirits. When things are moving smoothly we hardly hear a word from them. They quietly conduct their business and clear us through the pitfalls of air traffic control. But when things don’t go as planned and our resources are spread thin, they are the calming voice from above. They have spotted lost birds and conveyed coordinates to the ground crew. They have relayed messages to team members and landowners and kept us all together. They have even found us secure places to land when we needed to be on the ground and talked all the pilots into the same field. They are quietly efficient and politely professional and responsible in no small way for the success we have enjoyed. They are a big part of the trusted team.
 Kirill Postelnykh is a graduate student from Oka Biosphere Reserve in Russia. He has worked closely with Tatiana Zhuchkova who was with us last year. In fact Tatiana recently married Kirill’s brother. He joined us in late summer and has not had the time Tatiana did to become fluent in English. Despite this disadvantage he is a great addition to the team. We have him driving one of our trucks pulling the aircraft trailer and caring for birds. It is interesting to see America through his eyes and I can only sympathize with the isolation he must feel. Last Saturday the team took him to a Badgers football game and I think he was overwhelmed. Kirill hopes to learn our methods so that they can be applied to a reintroduction of Siberian cranes in Russia.
 Last year we were short a driver at the last minute and we called upon Gerald Murphy who had offered his service through an email message. A cohesive team is a big part of our success and we were all concerned with bringing in a stranger. But our fears were unfounded. Gerald dedicated over 64 days to this project without one complaint and we all grew to respect him. This year he has offered to fill in for Walter, who is traveling to Spain for 10 days of meetings.
 Sandy and Jerry Ulrikson accompanied us last year for the entire migration. They provided outreach services, driving skills and friendship. This year they were not able to join us and are sorely missed. We hope to see them at the southern end, if we ever make it.
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