The Sweet Bitterness of...Whooping Cranes

This is such a cool story! A flock of Whooping Cranes was led from Wisconsin to Florida by ultra-light planes. This picture was taken today over Dunnellon, Florida, which happens to be one of our favorite weekend getaways and the home of Rainbow River. Reminds me of someone else who made his way from Wisconsin to Florida recently...B'Gosh! Read the story...

Whooping cranes arrive in Dunnellon
The seven rare whooping cranes bound for wintering grounds in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge made it to their final stopover before the refuge on Thursday, thrilling hundreds of people who braved the frosty temperatures to watch North America’s tallest birds flying behind ultralights.

The flyover took place at the Dunnellon Airport, which is next to the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, the last stop for the birds before Chassahowitzka. On the next good weather day, possibly Friday, the birds will be led to the refuge.

The ultralight aircraft have been the guides, teaching the endangered birds the migration route from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to Chassahowitzka more than 1,200 miles away. This is the eighth year for the whooping crane reintroduction project.

Of 14 birds hatched in 2008, half were led to a new winter site, the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the Panhandle, last weekend. The flock was split to avoid a catastrophic loss like the one when a storm claimed all but one of the birds hatched in 2006.

These birds will stay at Chassahowitzka until instinct tells them to make the long flight back to Necedah in a few months on their own.

Times staff writer