The Sweet Bitterness of....Whooping Cranes 2.0

I posted about the flock of Whooping Cranes led by ultra light from Wisconsin to Florida back in January. Now the flock is heading back to Wisconsin! Check out this story from the St. Pete Times at Tampabay.com:

Whooping cranes begin migration
The first four of seven young whooping cranes that have spent the last several months in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge began their migration back to Wisconsin this week, officials at Operation Migration reported.


According to the latest reports, three of the rare birds remained in Chassahowitzka, on the Citrus-Hernando county border. And while observers have noted some behavior changes in the seven cranes that have wintered at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the Panhandle, none of those birds have yet begun their flight north.

While the birds need help from humans to find their route south during their first winter, instinct tells them to begin their migration north without help from their keepers.

The 14 birds composing the so-called Class of 2008 were raised at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and were taught to follow ultralight aircraft. In October, the ultralights took off, leading the cranes south into Florida and teaching them the 1,200-mile migration route. This is the first year that the flock was split between the Chassahowitzka and St. Marks refuges.

Wild adult whooping cranes led to Florida in previous years left on their annual migration earlier this month, and about 30 of the 86 cranes that compose the eastern whooping crane population had already reportedly returned to Wisconsin by late last week.

For more information on the efforts to reintroduce a migratory flock of whooping cranes to the eastern United States, visit operationmigration.org.

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