More Mixed-Up Migration News

At last, the sun has come out in Wisconsin, and nasty weather has calmed down long enough for the ultralights of Operation Migration to take off and fly to the next stopover site with two of the seven whooping cranes. That’s right, only 2 of the 7 cranes made the ultralight-guided journey to the next stop. It is posted on the OM Field Journal that the other 5 cranes will be crated and driven to the new pen site.

As disappointing as that must be for the pilots and crew, the change of scenery, and reality of a new site, and moving the whole migration project down the road another 28 miles, must feel wonderful. They have only one more stop planned in Wisconsin. They’re that much closer to Illinois, that much closer to the 117 miles of the journey in Wisconsin behind them, that much closer to Florida!

The two cranes that made the flight today (3-14 and 8-14, in case you are following that closely) flew for 42 minutes and covered 28 miles with the ultralights – the longest flight of their lives, thus far, I believe. There are much longer flights to come, but these two should be in good shape for the challenge. Somehow – I know from following this saga for a long time now – the rest will be taught what they need to know; they’ll make it safely into the South, and they’ll return to Wisconsin on their own next spring.

(For more information I urge you to check out the Field Journal tomorrow; OM often will analyze the flight and share observations a day or so after.)

The Aransas/Wood Buffalo Whooping Crane Migration

In other migration news, four individual cranes of the western flock of whooping cranes – that’s the long-established and back-from-the-brink, Aransas /Wood Buffalo flock – made an early and unexpected arrival in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The four, all adults, were first spotted by a fishing guide at Sundown Bay on the refuge on Sept. 11, and were confirmed by refuge staff on Sept. 15. According to the Friends of the Wild Whoopers blog the arrival was a month earlier than former early arrivals.

Here is a historic photo of whooping cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The refute was established in 1937 to protect critical habitat for the endangered whooping crane. (Photo courtesy USFWS: Aransas NWR page: multimedia galleries)

Until October 23rd, those early four were the only sightings of the Aransas Wood Buffalo flock, and some whooper-watchers were beginning to ask ‘”Is Whooping Crane Migration Late this Year?” No, not really, answers Chester McConnell of Friends of the Wild Whoopers.

The blog included a post in September, written by Wade Harrell, the U.S. Whooping Crane Recovery Coordinator, full of facts and figures about the migration of the western flock. For starters, the length of migration for these whoopers is 2500 miles – more than 1,000 miles longer than the migration undertaken by Wisconsin’s whooping cranes.

Eyewitness Account from a Migration Volunteer

In late July The Badger & the Whooping Crane published a post entitled “This Could Be Yours: a Two-Week Vacation with the Whooping Cranes,” detailing an offer from Operation Migration to sign up for a two-week stint as a helper with the many on-the-ground tasks that must be carried out during the fall migration trip. It’s a trip of 1100 miles that the ultralights and the cranes make in the air. But it’s assisted from the ground in hundreds – maybe thousands of little ways. Operation Migration filled 6 2-week slots with volunteers and this week they shared this post at their Field Journal from volunteer Steve Schildwachter. He does a fine job of conveying all the “hurry up and wait” assignments that go into ultralight-assisted whooping crane migration.

Migration Update & Good News about Single Dad Whooping Crane & Chick

The news thus far this whooping crane migration season, has been decidedly mixed, with an early start in some instances, slow progress in others, and what has seemed like no progress at all for the young whooping crane chicks that follow the ultralights. After such a hopeful start to the ultralight migration two weeks ago, the weather in Wisconsin has kept the ultralight airplanes, the seven young whooping cranes that follow them, and their ultralight pilot-guides and ground crews on the ground day after day in Marquette County. Those of us who live in Wisconsin are well aware how little we’ve seen of the sun since September began! It’s no surprise here that this has translated into a long string of “no fly” days. But bad weather can’t last forever – that’s the silver lining for the ultralight chicks.

Mild and bright fall days – good migration days – like this one have been almost completely absent in 2014. (Photo was taken in the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine in October 2013 )

And in other migration news, the official beginning of migration for the rest of the Eastern Migratory Population (the EMP) was announced at the International Crane Foundation’s Facebook page on Thursday. ICF’s Eva Szyszkoski had tracked seven of Wisconsin’s cranes to Greene County, Indiana.

Embedded in Eva’s report was the exceptionally good news that the EMP’s one surviving wild chick, and the chick’s male parent were among those cranes. There’s been little news about this special pair of cranes – the single surviving wild chick of 2014 (#w3-14) and her father (#12-02) – since late August when the sad news about the disappearance (and presumed death) or the mother crane, #19-04, was announced. (The Badger & the Whooping Crane offered some history of the crane family in the post, “A Single Parent Whooping Crane.”)

In its September Update the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership noted that on September 8, crane w3-14 had been captured for banding (and released). Now comes this new sighting of the crane chick and the father on migration, and it’s a real cause for celebration.

Operation Migration Launches 14th Annual Whooping Crane Migration from Wisconsin

Well, what a day!

Yesterday provided the answer to the question Operation Migration and craniacs everywhere have been asking and posting about for 3 weeks: when will the ultralight-led whooping crane migration begin this year?

Friday, before the sun was up OM posted it this way: “Is today THE day?” The answer came at 8 a.m., with the news that two ultralight aircraft were in the air with six of the seven young whooping cranes following behind them. Their destination was a temporary pen site 5 miles down the road – and that’s 5 miles closer to their ultimate destination, St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf, in Florida.

Whooping Cranes following an Operation Migration ultralight. (2010 Photo by Carole Robertson, used at the Wikipedia page for St Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge.)

For the 14th year in a row, young whooping cranes have launched from Wisconsin, on their first migration journey. Surely there’s no way for the cranes to know it now, but they have begun an 1100 mile journey to their winter home.

And at the end of the coming winter, they’ll be back in Wisconsin; somewhere near White River Marsh. They’ll come back on their own, following the route they’ve learned. And for the rest of their natural lives they’ll follow a similar migration path between Wisconsin and points south, from the one being taught to them by the men in costumes flying the ultralights right now.

Here are a few other interesting facts about the migration just begun:

– Six of the seven cranes this year are females.

– Due to an injury earlier this summer – the seventh crane, the only male in the group, was given extra attention yesterday, but was able to fly only 7 minutes, and then was crated and driven to the site.

– Traditionally, the OM-trained cranes are known only by numbers that tell their birth order and birth year, but this year, this male has acquired a nickname – “Peanut,” because he’s small, and maybe because, being the only boy in a cohort of seven, he’s kind of special.

Good weather today, combined with some crane confusion, meant that a second flight was attempted, but ultimately abandoned. Nonetheless, tonight the cranes are all at their second stopover, 19 miles closer to Florida. Learn all of the details at OM’s Field Journal; read “2nd Day Not as Pretty as the First” (Oct. 11) and “TODAY IS THE DAY!!!” (Oct. 10).