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| The Class of '04 spends time in the top-netted section that was
constructed over 3-days prior to their arrival at the Chassahowitzka
NWR winter pensite. This keeps them out of the way of two older
"white birds" (#105 & 204) who continue to assert
authority over the still-juvenile cranes. |
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| When the older cranes decide to leave and head in-land the
youngsters are released from the top-netted section to forage in the
3-acre open-topped area. Most of the cranes still have slight traces
of their juvenile coloring and all have developed their black
moustaches. |
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| The oldest of the group #401, exits the top-netted section. |
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| In this photo you can see that he is developing the tell-tale red
patch on top of his head. It would appear that he is still good
friends with #402 (background) |
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| #412 pictured above is 19-days younger than the pair above. Note
that he still has some tawny colored feathers in his wings, and on
the top of his head where his red crown will soon appear. |
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| #414 drinks fresh water from one of the guzzlers set up inside the
large release enclosure. Salinity levels of the natural water are
measured daily to ensure that they remain below 21 parts per
thousand. Anything more than this would be unsuitable for
consumption. |
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The monitoring team in Florida does much more than simply monitor the
wintering cranes. This beautiful sunset was observed last week when
ICF's Julia Watson and OM's Mark Nipper were sent out with Richard
Urbanek from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to attempt to
capture one of the older white birds whose transmitter was not
functioning. Each transmitter has a battery life that runs out every
couple of years, or sometimes the antenna breaks off, which makes
tracking the birds difficult.
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While the team was unsuccessful in capturing #201 at her Volusia
County wintering area they did see some interesting wildlife such as
the young alligator pictured above. (I don't know that I'd wanted to
be sitting in a wetland quietly waiting for a Whooping crane to return
to roost knowing that there are alligators present...)
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Okay, so they didn't capture #201 to replace her transmitter but they
did catch this snipe!
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