Date: November 6, 2009 - Entry 4 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: PREDICTING Location: Winnebago Co. IL Based on what the weather models are predicting, a departure from Winnebago County tomorrow is 99.9% unlikely. The forecast calls for SSE surface winds around 12-13mph and WSW 40mph winds aloft. On a more upbeat note, Walter and I did some scouting this afternoon and were able to find what we believe will be a reasonably good viewing site for a flyover when we do depart Winnebago County. The site is on N. Hoisington Road, which is just outside of the town of Pecatonica, IL. The exact location is only 0.68 miles from the intersection of Saunders and N. Hoisington Road. Use this link to view the location on Google Maps. We will try to give you a heads-up late the afternoon or evening ahead of any morning it looks like we might be able to fly. There is no off-road parking so safety first please. Be sure to pull your vehicle as far onto the shoulder of the road as possible. If it is 'a go' for a flight, OM's RV will be on site to give viewers an opportunity to purchase some OM Gear. I will also have an aviation radio with me so you can hear the pilots' 'chatter' as they take off. Sunrise is at approximately 6:40AM these mornings so viewers will want to be in place not much later than that. Date: November 6, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: HOLIDAY SHOPPING Location: Winnebago Co. IL Last week I noticed that right beside their Halloween paraphernalia, all the stores had stocked their shelves with their Christmas merchandise. Thinking they obviously know something I don’t about early shopping, I figured it must be time for a reminder here about what OM has to offer for holiday gift giving. Why not consider an OM Membership for your favorite Craniac - or, for someone who, with a little nudge, could become one. Our semi-annual magazine, INformation, is but one perk of membership. Distributed in April and October, INformation contains a mix of Whooping crane, OM, and other conservation and environmental news, as well as articles by guest authors on a diversity of related topics. While a relatively small publication, INformation receives terrific reviews, and we think it has some fascinating content that the public, as well as Craniacs, would greatly enjoy. If you tell us at the time of ordering that the Membership is a gift, we will send you a special card for you to give or send to announce your gift to the lucky recipient. Members also receive discount pricing on OM Gear and other merchandise, and, they will be included on the list of recipients for our EarlyBird e-bulletin. Throughout each year's migration, OM's EarlyBird e-bulletin is delivered directly to Members' email inboxes first thing in the morning, within moments of the decision to fly or not to fly being made. Members learn the news of the day first - usually hours before the go, no-go update can be posted to the Field Journal. There’s some great OM Gear on our Merchandise webpage, and don’t forget we’ve got two types of greeting cards. Order them now and you’ll have them in lots of time to get them in the mail to all the friends and family you send holiday wishes to. (Note: the boxed set of embossed Christmas cards always sell out fast, and with our limited supply you’ll want to order yours early.) Date: November 6, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Joe Duff Subject: LESSONS LEARNED Location: Winnebago Co. IL The first migration we even attempted was in 1993 when Bill Lishman asked me to help him lead a small flock of Canada geese from Ontario to Virginia. We doubled that distance the next year leading a larger flock all the way to South Carolina. When we finished the filming of the movie Fly Away Home in ‘95 we led the 60 actor geese on their first migration and also began working with Sandhill cranes. Thereafter we conducted three migrations with Sandhills, two with Trumpeter swans, and every year since 2001 we have taught Whooping cranes the way south. You can add in a few more experiments, like when we transported the birds all the way south in a truck hoping they could return on their own like homing pigeons. Or when we tried a stage-by-stage migration where the birds were crated and transported 50 miles by truck. After they were released to fly around they were crated again for the next 50 mile journey. All of this in the fruitless hope that they could somehow connect the dots on the way back. In total we have conducted 20 migration experiments with 4 species, and the one lesson I have learned the hard way is that each flock is different. Just when you think you know a thing or two, you can relay on a bird to take you down a few notches. As little as ten days ago I was very worried about this migration. It was day 12 already and the birds were only at the first stop, just 4 miles off the refuge. Weather can change in an instant so I had faith that it would eventually get better, but it was the birds’ behavior that scared me most. Of twenty birds, only five followed us even the intentionally short distance to the first stop. The rest divided themselves between three training sites back at Necedah and eventually had to be crated. Migration leg two was almost as bad. Only 10 birds flew there, and the other ten had to be crated. It was their disinterest that concerned me. Birds that should follow, were leaving the wing and turning back in complete disregard for the aircraft. The affinity we worked so hard to establish seemed to have disappeared. And then it all changed. Chris Gullikson led the birds from South Juneau to Sauk Co and they all followed well. There was no turning back or separation. One circle was all that was needed. They began a slow climb, and soon they were on their way taking 51 minutes to cover 26 miles. This last leg was similar. Brooke launched with the birds at Green County but Richard soon moved in to take the lead and 20 birds followed him all the way to Winnebago Co. From disinterest to dedication, from 6 days behind to 5 days ahead –just when you think you know a thing or two. Date: November 6, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY 22 Location: Winnebago Co. IL At 4:00am CST it was already 43F. Not only was it warm, it was breezy too, with 11mph ESE surface winds that are forecast to both increase and have gusts up to 30mph as the day wears on. Aloft the story was worse. Aloft, the winds out of the south were booming along at 30 to 40mph. No weather for cranes and planes to be flying in. Today will be Down Day #1 in Winnebago County, IL. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen Winnebago County, WI (Thanks to Becky Hartman of IL for this bit on conservation in Illinois.) About midway between Winnebago and LaSalle Counties are the Nachusa Grasslands owned by The Nature Conservancy. Its 2700 acres feature large stretches of remnant native prairie stitched together by volunteer-led prairie restorations and reconstructions. One of the uncommon or rare animals that survive at Nachusa are Blanding’s turtles. Nachusa is home to over 600 native plant species and 180 species of birds. Grassland birds, including grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, bobolinks and Henslow’s sparrow, perch in the colorful prairie grasses, alongside one of the state’s largest populations of federally threatened prairie bush clover. Who knows, Whooping cranes, prairie chickens, and bison may roam here again one day. It is the featured cover story of the fall issue of the Nature Conservancy magazine. Check it out online. Date: November 5, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Erin Harris Subject: Behind The Scenes On A Fly Day Location: Winnebago Co. IL As the winds aloft were supposed to be strong, we woke up this past Tuesday not knowing whether or not it would be the day the Class of 2009 and the OM crew left Sauk Co. for Green Co. WI. As the sun came up the pilots took to the air to test the conditions. First Chris, and then Matt, Brooke, and Richard took off, and once airborne, decided that it would be a 'go'. The two cameras, the CraneCam and TrikeCam were ready to record the departure and flight, the crew was in position, and Geoff and I went down to the pensite to prepare for the release. Preparing the pen for release is very important and we have to be ready, as the chicks are eager to go when the trike gets there. The preparation involves turning off the electric fence (which gives you a nasty reminder if you forget), removing all items in front of the release panels, and the key component to the release, pulling back the flight netting. The chicks are so eager to fly that they are usually airborne before they reach the panels, so it’s crucial that the flight netting be out of their way. As soon as the pen was ready Geoff and I hid in the mobile pen trailer to wait for the lead pilot's trike to arrive. Once we got the go ahead, Geoff and I took up positions in front of the release panels and waited for Richard to arrive. He landed on the runway and gave us the ‘thumbs up’. Geoff and I opened the panels and then moved out of the way as 19 eager chicks ran out of the gate and took to the air. Richard had to gun his trike in order to stay ahead of them as they flew down the runway. As we looked around, we realized - 19 chicks??? Who’s still here? We found 905 back in the pen, but with some encouragement from me, she ran to the gate and flew away, catching up with her flockmates. Geoff and I ran back into the pen, grabbed the decoy, and waited for the pilots to call for swamp monster. When swamp monster was called into action, I quickly took my costume off, grabbed my radio and air horn, pulled the tarp over my head, and went to stand on the runway. I went on there expecting to see chicks flying around the area, but I didn’t see any nor did I hear any trikes. After the pilots and chicks were clear of the area, I got the 'OK' to take the pen down. At the same time, Heather turned off the CraneCam, and began to get it ready for travel. Geoff and I started to take down the pen. We were soon joined by Joe, Dave Boyd, and others, to help speed up the tear-down process. When the pen was disassembled and all supplies were accounted for, Joe pulled the trailer out of the field, to where camp was assembled. When the pen trailer and CraneCam trailer were ready to hit the road, Heather and I made the beautiful drive to Green County, WI. Using walkie-talkies, Heather and I were able to keep in touch. Once we arrived at our final destination, we were greeted by a happy crowd. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that all 20 chicks made the trip in fine style and we were on the move. Once camp was assembled, and the trikes tied down, everyone gathered at our stopover hosts' house for sandwiches and a bowl of delicious hot, homemade soup. Our hosts are so generous to share their home with us, and we are lucky to have such great supporters. Date: November 5, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: SO LONG WISCONSIN - - HELLO ILLINOIS!! Location: Green Co. WI Distance Traveled:   Green Co. WI to Winnebago Co. IL - 34.0 Miles Accumulated Distance: 130.4 Miles As you can tell by the subject line above, we've left Wind-consin (or Wet-consin) behind and are now in flyway state number two, Illinois - or as Brooke calls it, "the land of flat". As darkness fell yesterday it got colder and colder. That was good news. The return of the chilly temperatures heralded a change in wind direction. As the winds swung around from the south to blow from west and then from the NW, the temperature continued to drop. By early morning it was 29F, and while we had almost negligible westerly surface winds there were gusts up to 2mph. Aloft the NW winds were stronger, reading around 10mph which meant if it wasn't to trashy, the planes and cranes would have a tailwind to give the a little push. By 6:20am CST the entire team was on the move, and speculation was high about the possibility of being able to skip the first Illinois stopover in Winnebago County. Brooke was lead pilot today and his launch from the pensite was a good one. In moments he was in the air with all the birds. There was some bird to trike, shuffling before they finally formed up (I'll leave the play by play for the lead pilot's report), but in short order we could see the four trikes low on the horizon approaching the excited crowd at the flyover site. As the Class of 2009 came closer, we could see that Brooke was down to just one bird off his wing, while the other 19 were strung out like a strand of pearls off Richard's right wing. They didn't have a lot of altitude at this point, so we gawkers on the ground had a glorious, lengthy, and excellent view as the necklace of glistening birds passed overhead. As they disappeared from view, many of our 'old' friends who had braved the cold early morning to come to the flyover gathered around to say hi, and to allow me to collect hugs for my hug bank. Some folks helped to lighten the load in Erin and my motorhome as they picked up some of their favorite pieces of OM Gear. Then Linda and I repacked all the merchandise cases and we too hit the migration trail, enroute to Illinois. Thanks to Gary and Kay Jones we have photos to share with you from today's departure and flyover. Top Left: Brooke starts off with the group. Bottom Left: Brooke has one and Richard has the rest. Bottom Right: Richard with 19. Date: November 4, 2009 -  Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: POTENTIAL FLYOVER Location: Green Co. WI Should we be able to fly tomorrow morning, Green County offers a super flyover viewing spot for folks interested in witnessing first hand, the planes and cranes departing Wisconsin for Illinois. The location is at the top of a hill on County Road N, just north (~1/2 mile) of the intersection of County Roads N and C. Coming along CR N from the north, the apex of the hill is just past Ron-Hill Lane (on your right). Coming from the south, if you pass Ron-Hill Lane (on your left) you've gone a bit too far. There is no totally off-road parking so safety first please. Be sure to pull your vehicle as far onto the shoulder of the road as possible. If it is 'a go' for a flight, OM's RV will be on site to give viewers an opportunity to purchase some OM Gear. I will also have an aviation radio with me so you can hear the pilots' 'chatter' as they take off. Sunrise is at approximately 6:40AM these mornings so viewers will want to be in place not much later than that. At the moment, the chance of a flight tomorrow morning is looking about 60-40. Date: November 4, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Bev Paulan Subject: Chicks are Growing Before My Eyes Location: Green Co. WI The chicks are growing before my eyes. Being 'mama' of 20 juvenile Whooping cranes has many rewards. It can also make one’s head spin. Right now, I feel as if I am in the middle of a tornado my head is spinning so fast. The cause of this? How fast 'my babies' are growing. I am used to the growth spurts at Patuxent. The chicks, at that young age, grow approximately 1” a day. You read that right, a whole inch per day. After two days off, the chicks are barely recognizable. Cute fuzzy little chicks that could barely walk are running around their pens, gobbling food on their own. It is stunning to witness. What still gets me though, is how fast they are maturing at this stage of the year. It seems that I could put a camera on each chick, and after a day, I would see the color change from the cinnamon brown, to the brilliant white. Its not quite that fast, but is certainly not slow. (Photo of 904 to left) I took an overnight last week to visit my mom for the last time prior to leaving town, and when I came back I was literally startled when I did roost checks that evening. I stood with mouth agape (luckily my hood covered that silly look) slowly looking from chick to chick. When did they start looking like adults? I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It seemed that in the one night I missed, they all grew up. One of the interesting aspects of this job is gaining the intimate knowledge of each chick. Watching personalities that are evident at hatch, grow and develop as the chick grows. Not only are the colors changing, but the grace and dignity that is so evident in the adult birds is also growing. They strut now as much as they hop about. They still play as much as they did, but much as a ten or eleven year child plays less with their dolls, the chicks are now being more productive in their play. It is more about actually catching and eating the food instead of just chasing and playing with the frog or mouse. Each bird is developing at their own rate, with the females definitely maturing faster than the males. At least as far as appearances go. The development is not age specific, though. 901, albeit our oldest and a female, does not look the most adult like. She sounds like it however, actually managing an occasional croak instead of just a peep. 914 (photo to left) is by far the most adult looking. Another female, but the middle child, she is obtaining her red crown patch already. Barely visible, but definitely there, the tawny feathers are shedding, revealing the red skin beneath. 904, our second oldest female, is, and always has been the most graceful of the flock. Currently, in my opinion, she is the most beautiful. Her black 'mustache' coupled with her mostly white plumage and fine delicate legs, make her a real beauty. Breathtaking almost. She looks as elegant as fine crystal. 929, the youngest, is also one of the largest. He stills tries to stare me down, but has grown out of his obnoxious, beat up the handler, phase. He has mixed plumage, typical of his age. No rhyme nor reason as to which brown feathers shed or where the white ones come in, he has a very mottled look. 927 (photo to right) is not the baby, but certainly looks like it. I always know where he is because he is still mostly brown. Very few white feathers have grown in and he still looks very baby-like. He is also one of the quiet ones. Rarely do we hear him peep. He goes about his daily business quietly, almost shyly. The year goes fast in spite of the fact that migration doesn’t. The ageing process goes even faster. On the birds, too, I mean. I look forward to seeing them each day, to watch the progress, the development. I would hate to wake up one morning to a flock of white birds, having missed the in between, the mottled, awkward, croaking 'tween' phase. I love this part of being a crane mama and treasure each day. Date: November 4, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY 20 Location: Green Co. WI Last evening, our own personal weather guru, Chris Gullikson, was convinced the weather would for sure keep us grounded today - and he was right. The warming temperature, harbinger of the south winds we now have, and the light rain he said we could expect, were exactly what we woke to this morning. Today will be Down Day #1 in Green County. OM's migration team expanded by one yesterday afternoon with the arrival of volunteer, Walter Sturgeon from North Carolina. A migration veteran, we can rely on Walt for assistance in a multitude of ways, from hauling one of our trailers, to bird handling, to turning out tummy-warming slow cooker meals. Walt is here to replace Gerald Murphy, another volunteer team member. They will overlap for a few days before Gerald bids us and the 2009 migration trail farewell and departs for his Milton, FL home. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen Green County, WI Beer and Cheese: Well known for its cheese, thanks to the little town of New Glarus, Wisconsin, and Green County in particular, is also becoming well known for its beer. A recent addition to the little town with a Swiss influence, is a new brewery. A showplace designed to resemble an European village, the brewery offers tours and beer tasting. The per capita consumption of cheese in the United States in 2007 was 32.7 pounds  - seventh in the world.  Greece was first with 82.2 pounds followed by France, 51.9 pounds and Malta, 49.2 pounds.  Canada was 11th in line with 21.2 pounds per person. Mozzarella and Cheddar are the most popular with their consumption being almost two-thirds of the total produced. Date: November 3, 2009 - Entry 5 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW YOU ASK? Location: Green Co. WI From the emails and phone calls that have come in there are lots of folks anxious to know what the prospects are for a flight tomorrow and a flyover viewing opportunity. So....I asked our weather guru, Chris Gullikson to look into his crystal ball for an answer. According to him, when he looked into the ball he saw south winds - read headwind - and the likelihood of rain. When he looked even deeper into the ball, he said, "we don't have even a remote chance of flying tomnorrow." So there you have it folks - it looks like we'll be spending the day on the ground tomorrow. Thursday is another story however, it should bring conditions similar to those we had for today's flight. With that in mind, in the morning I will post flyover information for viewers wanting to see the cranes and planes depart Green County. Need to check out the flyover location one last time first. ABOUT THE CRANECAM: WildEarth has confirmed that the problem people are having (seeing just a white screen) is an Internet Explorer Version 8 issue, and they are working to resolve it. In the interim, if you use another browser to connect, such as FireFox, or Chrome, you will be able to view the broadcast. Date: November 3, 2009 - Entry 4 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: VIEWS FROM THE FLYOVER Location: Green Co. WI Craniac Karla Ritter emailed to thank us for the, "wonderful viewing this morning at Ferry Bluff." In Karla's words, "The flyover was magnificent!" Ferry Bluff has long been a popular spot for flyovers - and due to its elevation, one that affords one of the most spectacular views of the entire migration. We even had a Craniac couple who drove there all the way from Minneapolis in hopes of seeing today's flyby. Karla was kind enough to share some of her photos with us, so we will share them with you.  Left: The Wisconsin River as  dawn breaks at Ferry Bluff.  Right: A few of the Craniacs  gathered in anticipation of the  flyover with the Class of 2009. This photo can't do the excitement of the  moment or the sight folks saw justice, but it does have all 20 birds in it. Amazing sight - amazing shot! Thank you, Karla. Date: November 3, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Richard van Heuvelen Subject: LIFE IS GOOD Location: Green Co. WI Distance Traveled:   Sauk Co. to Green Co. WI - 45.0 Miles Accumulated Distance: 94.4 Miles The day dawned crisp, cold, and clear, with a 20 mile an hour WNW wind aloft, which meant a tailwind. We found the trikes covered in frost so we had to wait for the sun to come up. While the sun warmed our wings we prepared for today's flight; adjusting altimeters, entering new destinations in our GPSs, and strapping backpacks, along with a multitude of other small tasks that come with flying small aircraft. One by one we took off into the morning air to be greeted with somewhat rough air over the trees causing our wings to do what Liz calls a dipsy-doddle. After deciding we would try a flight with the birds, I landed and taxied up to the pen. Adjusting the volume on the sound system, I gave the thumbs up, and Geoff and Erin quickly opened the pen gate and twenty birds came piling out. Pushing to full throttle we slowly climbed through the trees. The chicks slowly drifted east, I turned toward them, and then turned east myself. They followed but at a short distance. Not wanting to back to the pen area I continued on to the east. They fell farther back but still followed. We were now over a valley and away from the pen site so I turned in to them, and as they came up to the trike I turned back on course, headed for Green County with the entire Class of 2009 nicely formed up off my right wing tip. We began a slow climb out of the turbulent air and they settled in to form a nice long line of well behaved birds. We would find smooth air as we gained altitude, but eventually the rough air would come up to meet us so we would climb higher. Periodically, we would encounter more turbulence, and first the trike, and then each bird would fly through it, creating a wave through the long line of birds caused first by lift then sink, as we passed through the rough air. About 20 miles from our destination all of the birds suddenly charged ahead of the trike nervously looking to the east. I looked but I could not see anything. But they were clearly bothered by something out there. After almost caving my chest in with the control bar, I finally got ahead of them again. They began to settle down and then they all resumed their long line off my right wing with the exception of 912. He moved over to my left wing and so we carried on. With our destination field looming into sight, we began a slow descent. Last evening, having promised our Stopover Hotsts a good show, we circled the farm two or three times as we spiraled down to land. After putting up the birds in their pen, Brooke and I flew to the runway down below - but not before doing the 'happy dance' in the sky. On landing, we found our hosts very happy and excited about our arrival. If we were greeting with such happy faces every where we went we would truly be blessed. And, then they fed us homemade soup, sandwiches and cookies. Life is good! Date: November 3, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Migration Day #19 - AND WE FLEW! Location: Green Co. WI Clear skies and 28F at 4am this morning headed for a forecast high of 47F. Light winds - 2mph WNW on the surface. At 3000 feet the wind was clipping along at 20 t0 25 mph. As the early morning minutes ticked away toward sunrise (6:36am), the wind velocity, both on the surface and aloft, racheted up. Oh -oh not looking too good. But then, as sunrise approached, everyone felt a flight was a possibility. Places please! We watched and waited while two of the trikes that had not as yet had their Zoom wings replaced by the North Wings, de-frosted. Our wing covers don't fit the old Zoom wings (slower so used for summer flight training), so two trikes were ready to fly and two were not. Eventually all the trikes were in the air and Richard, today's lead pilot landed at the pen to pick up the Class of 2009. All 20 blasted out of the pen and in a flash were in the air behind Richard's trike. And, despite some 'dipsy-doodling' (description to come in Richard's lead pilot report) that's where they stayed - - right behind Richard all the way to the pen waiting for them in Green County! All the planes and cranes are safely on the ground here in Green County, and the rest of the team is on the road making their way here. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen Green County, WI Monroe, the county seat of Green County, is known as the Swiss Cheese Capital of the World. Wisconsin has several other distinguished communities worthy of "Capital" status. They are: • Sheboygan, the Bratwurst Capital of the World. • Wausau, the Ginseng Capital of the World. • Mount Horeb, the Troll Capital of the World. • Eagle River, the Snowmobile Capital of the World. • Green Bay, the Toilet Paper Capital of the World. • Somerset, the Inner Tubing Capital of the World. • Mercer, the Loon Capital of the World. • Bloomer, the Jump Rope Capital of the World. • Sturgeon Bay, the Shipbuilding Capital of the Great Lakes. • Potosi, the Catfish Capital Wisconsin. Date: November 3, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Craniac Kids Whooping Crane Activity Booklet Location: Sauk Co. WI OM’s Craniac Kids Whooping Crane Activity Booklet is off to a running start. Orders have been pouring in from teachers throughout the country, and our hard working volunteer shippers, the sister team of Darlene Lambert and Cindy Loken, have been sending them out as fast as they come in. The fun and educational Activity Booklet was produced with the hope of getting young people interested not just in Whooping cranes, but also in wildlife conservation. Recipient teachers’ comments have been both favorable and flattering. If you are an educator and would like complimentary copies for your students, please click here to place your order, or call toll free: 1-800-675-2618. The Craniac Kids Whooping Crane Activity Booklet is also now available to individuals for purchase. Visit the Merchandise Page to order copies for the children in your life. While the activities and puzzles are geared to Grades 4 through 7, younger students will enjoy it as a coloring book, and, with a little help from an adult, be able to do most of the quizzes. Darlene works on filling teacher's orders. Now THAT's a day's work! Cindy counts out booklets for an order. Date: November 2, 2009 - Entry 4 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: FLYOVER OPPORTUNITY? Location: Sauk Co. WI While the weather latest models are now showing stronger winds aloft that had previously been projected - maybe too strong - we are still hopeful for a flight from Sauk to Green County tomorrow morning. If you are interesting in a flyover viewing opportunity – it will be at Ferry Bluff. (See today’s Entry 1 below for directions). Please remember that we are at the mercy of the weather, and should winds be unfavorable, the cranes and planes will not take off. This means of course you might make the early morning trip for naught. Also keep in mind that the behavior of the birds can dictate the flight path, and the pilots and their charges could end up miles off our intended/hoped for course. If you ARE planning on heading to Ferry Bluff in the morning you will want to be on site around 6:45 to 7:00am. The morning temp is forecast to be 27F. Dress warmly!! Date: November 2, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Brooke Pennypacker Subject: A BROOKE 'SPECIAL' Location: Sauk Co. WI Note: Here's a special Down Day treat for Field Journal readers; an entry from Brooke about the activity and flight made on Tuesday, October 27th. The morning of October 27th began out at the site with the mournful call of that lonesome train whistle blowin’ through the darkness. All I needed was a good ol’ dog, a pickup truck, and a cheatin’ wife and I would have had the makings of my very own original country song. “Nashville, here I come…after migration, that is.” But I may not have to wait for my ‘Train Whistle Reward.” A local bar which happens to be situated next to the railroad tracks has an ongoing special of 25 cent shots of the liquor of your choice every time a train goes by. In fact, a local entrepreneur put his son through four years of Harvard by selling train schedules at the door, operating under the age old assumption that where there is noise, there is profit. Just listen to a Session of Congress if you don’t believe me. But here we fly to the sound of a different drummer; in our case the sound of the wing beats a Whooping Crane makes as it flaps its way to Florida, and the time has come for us to turn up the volume. The rain, with its ceilings so low they touched the ground, had for days pounded our spirits into depression, and turned the bird pen into something resembling an Olympic sized pool, necessitating the hiring of a has-been actor from “Baywatch” to spend his daylight hours sitting on a stand holding a sign which said, “We don’t swim in your toilet, please don’t --- in our pool!” But as any Realtor will tell you, it’s all about “Location, Location Location,” and waterfront property ain’t half bad if you’re a crane. It was my turn to lead on the leg from Juneau to South Juneau County, not because of our rotation, but because I had worked for years as a commercial diver and knew all the words to the Beetle’s song, “ We All Live In A Yellow Submarine.” So as dawn broke, I found myself sitting in the trike as near to the pen as the water would allow, my seat made lumpy and uncomfortable by all the question marks that filled it. Just how well would these birds fly after days punctuated by fits and starts? But as anyone who has ever faced a firing squad knows, there is great exhilaration and hope in uncertainty, and as Bev, Erin and Geoff executed the release, the morning’s drama began to unfold. The birds blasted free of the pen and launched themselves skyward with all the pent up enthusiasm of a paroled convict on his first date. And, as expected, the morning’s rodeo began in earnest. I was soon away with first nine, then seven birds - as the three other trikes moved in an attempt to impose order in the ranks and practice the art of aerial persuasion with the others. With the usual effort, our little group made it a little more than halfway to the next Stopover site only to have one bird pull away and soon take the others with it which would necessitate another roundup and a lecture by me punctuated with four letter words only I could hear. Meanwhile, Joe had picked up three birds that were heading back to the refuge and climbed them so high I thought he had previously arranged a rendezvous with the space shuttle as he headed for the next site. Then I heard Richard call out that he had landed back at the pen with seven birds. Then Bev, after seeing the birds and realizing they had plenty of energy still left in them, radioed Richard and encouraged him to give it another try. So Richard, never one to give up without a fight, blasted off skyward again, his seven charges obediently following, this time at tree top level. Before long I heard him announce he had made it to the next site but because the birds just wouldn’t climb he had to fly under a tractor trailer, through some guy’s cellar and under a clothesline while the lady of the house was hanging out her wash. I gave him an invisible High Five at the news, which in my case is a High Four and a Half. Off my own wing, order had returned as my seven flew beautifully in line. All went well until a large military aircraft appeared seemingly out of nowhere and occupied a nearby piece of sky , putting an end to my little party. Four birds broke off in panic and headed towards a nearby military base with all the patriotism of WWII enlistees who just got the news of Pearl Harbor. Although three birds remained dutifully on my wing, the prospect of later having to recover those four wayward angels held little appeal, so we turned, and with all the speed the trike could produce, finally caught up to the four and turned them back toward our starting point. On the way, another bird appeared from the east and we picked him up, then another appeared going somewhere from the west, and we collected him also. Soon we were on the ground right where the morning adventure had begun, but at least my seat was more comfortable, the questions answered. Bev, Erin and Geoff quickly returned these nine to the pen and I got airborne to look for a missing bird, little 925. Soon the search began in earnest with Brian and Marianne Wellington in the tracking van, Bev and Erin in the truck, Richard in his trike equipped with a tracking receiver was on the way, and the rest of us trike drivers squinting hard against the countryside below. It must be noted here that Richard, on his own initiative, had spent a good deal of time this summer fitting our his trike with the necessary tracking equipment and practicing his tracking skills in anticipation of just such a scenario as the one we now faced. So it was no surprise to any of us that Richard soon skillfully homed in on the bird. He directed Brian and Marianne down a dirt road to his location where they retrieved him none the worse for wear. Another High Four and a Half for Richard! We all breathed a collective sigh of relief and I headed back to the airfield. The ten birds would continue their migration to Stopover Site #2 in boxes, which prompted some soon to be t-shirt mogul to coin the name, “Operation Boxation.”. It could have been, “Operation MiCratetion,” had our boxes looked a bit more like crates. The important thing is simply that all the birds ended the day safely at the next stop. And besides, it’s like Joe Botchagalloup, the Poet Laureate of my native state of New Jersey always says, “The toughest part of a long journey is bending over to tie your shoes.” Or was it, “The hardest part of stripping a car is prying off the first hub cap?” Something like that anyway. You get the idea. But seriously, if any of you are looking for a “Lead Pilot” to take you on a flight to “Nowhere” and if you are not bothered in the least that your trip will end exactly where it began, then don’t waste those Frequent Flyer Miles on a major airline that will only charge you extra for any bag larger than a pack of playing cards and that will fly you a hundred and fifty miles or so past your destination in a transparent attempt to relieve you of some of those valuable Frequent Flyer Miles it took you so long to convince your ex-brother-in-law to gift you. Just call me toll free at 1-800-You-Can’t-Get-There-From-Here. I’m definitely your man! Meanwhile, while I await your call, I’ll be heading back to camp to look for my train schedule….for I have “miles to go before I sleep.” Date: November 2, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Migration Day #18 Location: Sauk Co. WI Too bad we can't fly in the dark. Just before 4am CST the thermometer outside our motorhome read a pleasant 44F and the only thing moving was me. Not a bit of wind stirred the leaves. That slowly but surely changed, as it usually does as dawn approaches. Degree by partial degree the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. By 6am NE winds had swung around to come out of the WNW and were blowing strongly enough to give voice and life to the leaves; ~6mph on the surface and 25mph aloft. After yesterday's elation at a successful migration leg, the unfortunate reality today is that it will be Down Day #1 in Sauk County, WI. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen Sauk County, WI Taliesin, the summer home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in Spring Green, WI. Wright began building the home in 1911 on land that was settled by his maternal family during the Civil War. The family was Welsh, so Wright named the home after the Welsh bard Taliesin, whose name means "Shining Brow." Twice destroyed by fire, the current version, named Taliesin III, was completed in 1925. Wright used the house as an experiment in his philosophy of organic architecture, continuously changing it. Organic architecture strives to integrate space into a unified whole, and Wright believed that every building should grow naturally from its environment. In 1940, he formed the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and, upon his death in 1959, ownership of Taliesin passed into its hands. The entire estate is designated a national historic landmark. Date: November 2, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION FLYOVERS & SAUK CO FLYOVER Location: Sauk Co. WI Over the past week, dozens upon dozens of messages have been coming to our info@ email address inquiring about opportunities to see the Class of 2009 along the migration route. To forestall more inquiries, here is the story… It is my hope to host as many, if not more departure flyovers on this fall’s migration as last year. With luck, there will have been no changes of consequence on the landscape at last year’s flyover locations, and we will be able to use the same ones again this year. As we reach each Stopover, I will be checking out the previously used locations to be sure they are still viable, but keep in mind that in most, if not all cases, this can only be done a day or two in advance at best. As usual, I will post the location and directions to each flyover viewing site in advance of each departure, here in the Field Journal. Meeting folks at flyovers is almost as exciting for us as it is for you to get a personal look at the Class of 2009 being led by our ultralights. New to OM’s Migration crew this year are husband and wife team, David and Linda Boyd of Rhinelander, WI. David will be driving one of our vehicles for us, and Linda will be assisting me with outreach and at flyovers. She and I are hoping for even larger turnouts at flyovers this season. Please note: In order to protect the birds and our stopover hosts’ property and privacy, we never reveal our stopover locations beyond the county level. To ensure WCEP’s isolation protocols are observed, there is NO accessibility or opportunity to view or photograph the young Whooping cranes in the Class of 2009 other than at flyovers. Keep in mind too, that because our ability to advance each day is entirely weather dependant, we never know where we will be when….or, is that, when we will be where? To give you some idea of the unpredictability of this, check out our Migration Timeline page. This webpage shows the progress - that is, the date we arrived and departed all Stopovers on every migration since 2001. By following our progress (or lack thereof) in the entries we post to the Field Journal on a daily basis, you will be able to determine when there is potential for a flyover viewing day in your area. FIRST FLYOVER FOR 2009 If you don’t mind an early morning start and would like an opportunity to see the Class of 2009 flyover on their way from Stopover #3 in Sauk County to Stopover #4 in Green County, WI, here is the information on the flyover viewing site. The viewing location is Ferry Bluff State Natural Area. It is situated on the Wisconsin River, just southeast of Sauk City. Directions: From the intersection of Highways 60 and 12 west of Sauk City, go west on Highway 60 ~4.4 miles, then south on Ferry Bluff Road ~1.1 miles to a parking area and canoe landing at the end of the road. A trail leads to the top of Cactus Bluff (300ft), a spot which usually provides spectacular views of the cranes and planes as they pass by. Please bear in mind that we cannot guarantee you will witness the flyover. The flight should pass by this viewing site, however, should the young cranes initially be reluctant fall into place behind the aircraft, it could take some time (and distance) to gather them up and get back on course. This could result in a deviation from the intended flight path and unfortunately is beyond our control. Also keep in mind that weather always is a factor. We seldom know right up until the last minute whether we will be able to fly on any given day. This is the reason why we cannot pinpoint the date or time any flyover will occur. We will TRY to give everyone a heads-up in the Field Journal the night before, once we've had a chance to check the evening’s forecast for the morning’s weather conditions. If you're planning on being at Ferry Bluff, please also remember that weather permitting, the flight will get underway shortly after sunrise (approximately 6:45am) and it normally progresses at ~35-40 mph. If we should be fortunate enough to find a tailwind, the speed could increase so it's best to plan on being at Ferry Bluff within 10 to 15 minutes of sunrise. Don’t forget to dress appropriate to the weather!! Date: November 1, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Chris Gullikson Subject: MIGRATION DAY #17 = STOPOVER #3 Location: Sauk Co. WI Distance Traveled:   S. Juneau Co. to Sauk Co. WI - 26.4 Miles Accumulated Distance: 49.4 Miles This will have to be a very quick update. We have a ton of work ahead of us moving camp, and basically getting mobile for the first time this year...and the Packers play Minnesota at 3pm!! The winds were calm this morning with a mid-level stratus cloud deck that would help block the sun and limit thermal activity. Once aloft we found a headwind of about 8mph to 1000 feet above the ground but the air was mostly smooth so we decided to give it a try. The pen sits in a pseudo box canyon with only one way out pointing to the west. After landing, and giving the ground crew the signal to open the pen doors, we were blasting off to the west with most of the birds coming out well and flying well. The plan was to continue west, and then cut south around a hill and head on course. The cranes of course did not know what the plan was, and decided to turn north away from me. I gave chase and soon had them back on course, 6 on the wing and 12 others lagging behind but still following. Two had come out the pen a little late [901 and 905] and Brooke moved in to pick up these stragglers. When I made my turn south on course the 6 birds as well as the group of 12 still a good ways back stayed with me. I could have made a turn to pick up the 12, but didn't want to give the birds any excuse to turn back and begin a rodeo. As the 12 continued to fall further back, Richard moved in and picked them up. We flew on; Brooke with the two stragglers (photo to right), Richard with 12, and me with 6. We climbed past a light area of turbulence at 1000 feet to about 1500 feet above the ground. With the headwind, our groundspeed was only about 22mph, but the air  remained smooth and the birds were flying well. Our flying time with the birds lasted about 55 minutes and they all looked great when we finally coaxed them down at our destination in Sauk County. The TrikeCam seems to have worked well this morning. Click the following link to review the archived footage. We have a cold front moving through tomorrow, that could bring us some light rain and winds, so our next flight could happen on Tuesday. Date: November 1, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: BREAKING NEWS 8:40am CST-ish Location: Sauk Co, WI It appears as if the cranes and planes are coming in to circle the pen at Stopover #3 in Sauk County - and - it appears as if they have all 20 birds. No doubt you'll be as anxious as I am to read the lead pilot's report of today's flight. Tune in later this afternoon. Note that it could be quite late this afternoon before it can be written and posted. Everyone now has to drive back to the refuge, pack up, disconnect, and secure our motorhomes, hook up trucks and vans to trailers, clean up and break camp, drive the 60 road miles back to our new camp site, and then get set up there. Date: November 1, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: PRELIMINARY REPORT Location: S. Juneau Co. WI At 31F, it was colder yet this morning. Surface winds were practically non-existent, but what little there was, came from the SSW. Aloft, the winds were mostly westerly. The aviation reports gave pilots 4 miles of visibility and a broken cloud cover at a 13,000 foot ceiling. The birds had the cold temp they prefer for flying. This was the most promising weather we’d had in the past four days. By 6:20am, camp was deserted. The ground crew had left to get into position for a potential release, and the pilots, including top cover, were enroute to the hangar. With last evening's time change, official sunrise this morning was 6:36am CST, and the pilots wanted to be ready to put up a test trike for a first hand investigation of conditions. If the test trike pilot found conditions were such that a flight was doable, or even worth an attempt, the rest of the pilots could be in the air within a matter of minutes. Once aloft, the aviation radio crackled and Richard was heard saying, “I have turbulence at 1,300 feet”. All four trikes went aloft to check the conditions at various altitudes. As the scene played out over the radio, we heard the pilots report headwinds of 5 to 7mph. Then, as the crackle of radio went quiet, a splatter of rain drops took its place - but thankfully ended within minutes. At 7:21am CST, after nail-biting minutes that seemed like hourrrrs, word came that they had launched. Chris was aloft with 18 - which where breaking up - while Brooke was back at the pen with two birds. Gotta get going, so that's as much as I can convey in this post folks. For further news - hopefully that we've successfully flown the migration leg to Sauk County - check back here later. A NOTE ABOUT THE CRANECAM The cellular aircard we use to broadcast the live video feed limits the amount of data we can stream per month. As a result, on 'Down Days' during the migration, the CraneCam will broadcast live for approximately 3 hours each morning beginning shortly after sunrise. On 'Fly Days', once the departure has been broadcast, the CraneCam will be shut down so it can be moved to the next Stopover location. Circumstances will dictate whether live video will be again be available later that day. In all instances, when the CraneCam is not broadcasting live, it will play archived video clips. To watch live video broadcasts via our CraneCam or to view archived video clips click here or the "Live CraneCam" graphic to the right. Date: October 31, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: SAY 'SO LONG' TO BRIAN AND 'HELLO' TO CHARLIE Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Today we will lose one crew member and at the same time gain another. Seconded to OM’s Migration Team by the Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre, Brian Clauss, Biological Science Technician (BST), will leave us today when his replacement, Charlie Shafer, also a BST arrives. Surely we can get Charlie further south than we managed to do with Brian. (smile) Both Brian and Charlie have joined us to help with migration duties for several years. In the past, they have shared the ‘Patuxent position’. They would either switch off at the migration halfway point mile-wise, or at a guesstimated halfway point date-wise. From year to year, they would flip back and forth – one doing the top end of the route one year, and the bottom end of the route the next. This year, Patuxent is sending crew on a different rotation to help us. They will be coming and going in two week shifts. Charlie will relieve Brian today, and then in two weeks time he in turn will be relieved by Sharon Marroulis, BST. Jane Chandler, Patuxent’s Flock Manager, will take over from Sharon, followed Robert Doyle, BST. As does Brian, Robert also spends part of each summer here in Wisconsin with the Flight Training team. If we are still on migration after Christmas, Brian Clauss will return to duty, and if necessary, Brian's better half, Barb Clauss, BST, will take over from him. That schedule covers from now until January 23rd, and as much as we enjoy having the Patuxent Crane Crew with us, we’re hoping our progress is such that at least some of them will be able to remain in Maryland to enjoy the comforts of home instead of the rigors of the road. Date: October 31, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: WIND-CONSIN OR WET-CONSIN? Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Last year, for obvious reasons, we took to calling the Dairy State, 'Wind-consin'. This year however, 'Wet-consin' has been struggling mightily to wrest away the title - and it may be winning. Yet another fight broke out between them last evening as Wind fought Wet in a titanic battle that raged on through the night. Wind was in a vile mood. Spoil sport that it is, it was determined to rob all deciduous trees of any remnants of their fall glory, and screaming and howling, it pushed the envelope. As it freight-trained through camp, it carried with it the whip-crack sound of breaking branches, and the swish/thud of their descent and hard landing. Wet, not to be outdone, stepped up its efforts, gradually turning its rooftop pitter-patter to an incessant loud, get-on-your-nerves, rat-tat-tat. (Believe me, when your bed is a cab-over bunk with your nose ~18" from the roof, it IS loud.) And, like two adolescents muscle flexing and showing off, Wind and Wet double-teamed us. While Wind ferociously heaved and rocked us, Wet ensured we were kept captive by pounding down with force; promising an immediate and thorough drenching if one dared to take even one step outside. Now, with dawn approaching they seem to both be slowly slinking away. Are they afraid of the light? Perhaps they are part vampire... It is All Hallows Eve after all. Nothing will change in time, or sufficiently, to save the day for the cranes and planes though. Today will be Down Day #4 in South Juneau County - and we puppets of the weather gods will be making another wardrobe adjustment. While yesterday at 4:30am it was a toasty 58F, there was a 21 degree difference at the same time this morning; 37F. It will be off with the t-shirts and on with the sweatshirts. To see where we stood in the greater scheme of things I borrowed Chris G's crystal ball to look back in time. Before this season, the latest it has ever been when we departed South Juneau County was last year, 2008, - and that occurred on October 28. Hmm, three days off the pace - not so bad I guess. Yes, I know....it's also nothing to cheer about. But at this point, we have to focus on every positive we can. And perhaps we can take some small consolation in knowing we aren’t the only ones off to a slow start this migration season. Vicki Muller, Wildlife Refuge Specialist at the Aransas National Wildlife refuge reported in the Victoria Advocate (a Texas newspaper), that the Wood Buffalo/Aransas population is also behind schedule. So far, just two Whooping cranes from that flock have arrived on the Aransas refuge. Vicki noted that while the approaching cold front should soon prompt more movement, to date, most of the sightings of birds in the western population have come from North Dakota and Nebraska. These Whoopers, like us, still have a long way to go. Date: October 30, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Chris Gullikson Subject: LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL Location: S. Juneau Co. WI If you have been following our story, you likely know that weather is the critical component to our ability to fly with the cranes. The ideal conditions that we look for are no winds at the surface and a very gentle north wind aloft. The birds fly best when the air is cold and dry. A cold frontal passage with gentle high pressure building in from the west is what we look for. We fly light aircraft that are susceptible to turbulence and they tend to dance about in 'trashy' air as we call it. The birds get a benefit from the vortex of air that is generated off the wingtips, and they need to be very close and in tight formation with each other to benefit from this lift. They become reluctant to follow us if they cant 'lock onto the wing', and usually break off and go back to the pen if we push our weather tolerance. As I said, high pressure building in behind a cold front can bring us the ideal weather that we are looking for. Air rotates clockwise around an area of high pressure, skies are generally clear, and the atmosphere is stable. Once the high pressure has passed us to the east, the winds turn southerly and we are faced with a headwind situation. If the air is smooth enough, and the headwind not too strong, say 10mph or so, and the birds have been flying well with us...we can sometimes get them to fly into a headwind situation. They are smart, and know that it takes a lot more energy to force their way into a headwind, and they likely turn back to the pen knowing that a better day is coming. So when is the next fly day? Looking into the crystal ball - otherwise known as computer weather models - my guess is Tuesday for the best weather scenario. We have an area of very low pressure over southern Minnesota that will be deepening and moving to the northeast across Hudson Bay in northern Ontario. A cold front sweeps through Wisconsin late tonight with high pressure building in across Missouri and southern Illinois late Saturday. The winds will be much too strong for us on Saturday morning with strong cold air being advected from the north in the tight pressure gradient created by the departing low pressure system. Sunday does show some promise of calm air, but the high pressure center is forecast to be south of us, and the models are already showing light south winds across southern WI. We will likely be ready to fly on Sunday morning and will test the air by putting a trike up and measuring the actual headwind. Wind usually always veers with height - the southerly headwind becomes a crosswind as the winds veer from more of a westerly direction giving us a better groundspeed. If the winds veer at a low enough altitude, and the cranes are willing to plow into a bit of a headwind - then Sunday may be our day for the next flight. Tuesday looks to be more of an ideal day with gentle high pressure still out to the west giving us calm winds and a light tailwind. This is a crystal ball however, computer models, while quite sophisticated, cannot fully predict the future for something as complicated as weather. Date: October 30, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: ZERO MILES TODAY Location: S. Juneau Co. WI We’re breaking out the shorts and tees. Well before sunrise it was already 58F and the forecast is for a high of 67F by mid afternoon. Yes, that unfortunately means south winds, southeast to be exact, and when you add that component to the drizzle that’s falling off and on, the inevitable outcome is Down Day #3 in South Juneau County, WI. Hope springs eternal however. Although some improvement is needed, Saturday and Sunday do hold out some promise. In other Whooping crane news, the Direct Autumn Release (DAR) birds were released from Site 3 on the Necedah refuge last Saturday. ICF’s Marianne Wellington said they were released in small groups at several locations around the refuge where adults and sub-adult Whoopers were known to habituate. Hopefully they will associate with the older birds, and eventually, follow them when they initiate their southward migration. Click the link to be taken to the ICF site to read the latest update on the DAR birds. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen SOUTH JUNEAU COUNTY, WI The village of Wonewoc is the midpoint of the 400 Trail, one of the area's many trails used by bikers, hikers, horseback riders and snowmobile enthusiasts. The name “Wonewoc” is of Native American origin; probably means "howling hills". George and Lucinda Willard first settled the area in 1851. The town was incorporated as a village in 1878 and once the railroad was built, village growth exploded. The end of the railroad era halted Wonewoc’s growth. It is now a quiet, scenic town, with a population less than a thousand largely of German descent. Wonewoc's location on the Baraboo River makes it attractive for canoeing and kayaking, as are the nearby lakes, Dutch Hollow and Lake Redstone which offers fishing, swimming, and other water sports. Date: October 29, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: CHALLENGES MET! Location: S. Juneau Co. WI We're delighted to be able to tell you that the two MileMaker challenges recently issued have been met. Along with the Class of 2009, the entire OM team sends our sincere gratitude! Denice Steinmann from Illinois issued a 100 mile challenge, and just like champs, many of you stepped up to the plate and met it - doubling the value of your contribution in the process. And Annelise Jorgensen's (of Canada) 10 mile challenge which happily was for NEW MileMakers - was also met. Thanks to Denice, Annelise, and all you good folk, MileMaker has been bumped to 793 miles - just 492 short of a total sponsorship! In previous years, more often than not we anxiously watched as we approached the point where the sponsored miles ended, worriedly looking at how much of the migration route we had yet to cover - and the miles that remained unfunded. This year is wonderfully strange. While we are seemingly nailed to the ground here in central Wisconsin, you terrific Craniac MileMakers are galloping ahead of us. At the rate you - and those you are encouraging to become sponsors - are going perhaps you will make our year and have MileMaker fully sponsored before we manage to escape wet and windy Wisconsin. Now wouldn't THAT be something to WHOOP! about?!? Date: October 29, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Heather Ray Subject: Camp Life Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Living with a group of people in close-quarters for an extended (and unknown) period of time has its challenges. Meals are usually left up to the individual with the exception of dinner when we try to cram into the Sierra trailer, which is the largest of our (not yet) roving entourage of RV’s. It’s normally occupied by Joe, who gets the big bed at the front and Geoff, who will soon be joined by Walter to share the bunk room at the back. In the middle is a kitchen/living room area which seats four comfortably, but often sees 12 to 14 hungry people crammed into it. Dinnertime becomes a game of passing the salt and pepper-- around and over everyone, and then carefully circumnavigating your way to the sink to rinse and stack dishes and cutlery for those that have volunteered for clean-up duty. The fridge in the Sierra is not large enough to hold all that is needed to feed the crew for more than a day or two so groceries are often spread out amongst all of our refrigerators. As a result, someone is always looking for something and it takes extra time to prepare meals as you have to forage for the necessary ingredients. Laundry is another challenge we face daily. Most RV’s do not offer a great deal of storage space so it’s wise to not pack too much, yet when it’s cold outside, layers are the way to go, so it becomes a balancing act. Pack enough to stay warm and so that you’ll always have a change of clothes in case you get caught in the rain but not too much because you wont have space to store it. We’re fortunate while still here at the Necedah Refuge in that we have a full size washer and dryer that we purchased in 2003. They are in the building referred to as “The Annex,” which also houses 3 offices for refuge staff so we must be considerate and only use them on evenings and weekends. If one plays their cards just right and gets their laundry in first, it will inevitably make its way into the dryer and will even be folded if you just happen to forget you were doing laundry in the first place – Nobody wants to be known as the person that took clothes out of the dryer to put theirs in, and didn’t fold them! There are also two bathrooms in the Annex – complete with showers. Because of the number of folks using them, one has to strategically plan their visits. Thankfully, I’m an early riser so I’m often the first one in each morning. This is the sixth migration for me and over the years I’ve learned some important ‘Camp-life Lessons’: 1. The propane bottle will always run out in the middle of the night 2. If there is even a glimmer of a possibility that you might be able to migrate on any given day – do NOT have that second cup of coffee 3. Heed your mothers advice and “go” before you get on the road 4. Carry tissues in your pocket in case you forget number 2 or 3 5. Pilots aren’t very good at navigating on the ground 6. Things DO go bump in the night 7. Field mice are cute but can find there way into any RV, no matter how much tinfoil you cram into the crevices: case in point when Chris was awakened a couple nights ago by one chewing on his hair 8. Joe will always lose at least one glove during a migration 9. Batteries never last as long as they’re supposed to – have spares 10. Meteorologists are liars Date: October 29, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY 14 - DOWN DAY #2 IN S. JUNEAU COUNTY Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Apologies for the late posting, but connectivity, or at least sustaining connectivity, has been an issue this morning. As you will have surmised from the subject line, we will not be migrating today. The rustle of leaves and the whipping sound of tree branches could be heard without stepping foot outside this morning. The temperature has heated up - 52F here but we have gusty ESE winds even on the ground, and aloft they are also blowing strongly - and the wrong way. Brian, Geoff and Erin are on their way to the pensite to take advantage of being on the ground to de-worm the birds. Happily for the chicks, this means smelts. Date: October 28, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Class of 2009 Subject: WE WANT PUMPKINS!! Location: S. Juneau Co. WI We're sending a shout out to local Craniacs and Field Journal readers. We LOVE pumpkins - and sometimes our costumed handlers don't have any for us. Today they said they had no more left ...sob. Do you have any pumpkins you might like to donate to us - or know of someone who would? If you do, we sure would be glad to hear from you. It would be great if you had some pumpkins and were willing to deliver them to us, but if you live not too far from Necedah or Mauston, we know if we WHOOPED loud enough, a couple of costumes would go and pick them up for us. When we have pumpkins to play with and to eat we're not so bored being stuck here in the pen waiting until we can fly. The costumes call it 'enrichment', but we just call it 'having fun'. Please, can we have pumpkins...please please, please? Here's where to email if you can help us out. info@operationmigration.org. A whooping big thank you from the Class of 2009. Date: October 28, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Joe Duff Subject: All it takes is a little smooth air Location: S. Juneau Co. WI For the first time in recent memory we took off Tuesday morning into smooth air. We covered the five miles from the hangar to the first stop with mixed expectations, alternating between optimism and dread. Because of standing water on the makeshift runway Brooke was only able to use half the field, so he circled once to allow the birds to catch up. On his first turn two of them broke and headed north with such determination there was no mistaking their destination. It was as if they had been waiting a week for the gate to open and you could not have drawn a straighter line back to the refuge. I was a thousand feet up and staying out of the way so as to not disturb any of the birds Brooke was trying to gather. I followed the two returnees until I was sure I could drop down without drawing attention. I was descending from above and behind them and I watched a line of five trucks heading east along highway 21 as they headed north. As if on cue, the trucks roared past just as the birds were about to cross over the highway. The spectacle was too much for them and they turned south again. Slightly shaken, and with their retreat cut off, they were happy to see the familiar aircraft and they formed on the wing. Richard and Chris had joined Brooke but none of them were having much luck. From the radio chatter it sounded like birds were flying in all directions, and one of the strays spotted the two birds off my wing and it formed up as well. We headed downwind to the east and made a wide arc around the rodeo that was taking place at the first Stopover Site. Once we were a few miles away, we turned on heading and began to climb. The wind was from the southwest so the farther east we travelled the more we had to fight our way upwind to get back on course. We were flying through the air at 40 miles per hour, but because of the headwind we were covering ground at only 28. But the air was smooth and all three birds were simply gliding on the wake created by the wing so we started to climb. At 3,000 feet (by far the highest these birds have ever been) our ground speed was up to 32mph. The interstate is just north of our destination and we stayed high so the traffic wouldn’t scatter them. Then began the long slow descent. We circled several times keeping the birds on the wing and eventually landed after one hour and eight minutes. Throughout all of this Brooke managed to coax several birds half way to the destination, but they kept turning back. The passing of a very low KC 135 jet from the local military base was the last straw, and all the birds headed home. Richard had another seven birds and he kept them low where the headwind wasn’t as strong. When it was his turn to cross the interstate he found a stand of trees that obscured the traffic until the last moment. The bird exploded upward when they finally saw the rush of truck just beneath them, but by that time it was behind them and they soon settled down. By mid morning we had ten birds in the pen at Stopover Site #2 and we headed back to look for 925 who had gone down in some trees a few miles from our starting point. After circling for 30 minutes it was finally spotted, and the ground crew were directed in to collect it. After almost 3 hours we returned to the airport. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon crating the remaining ten birds to the new site. Part of the crew disassembled the pen and moved it to Stopover Site #3 in Sauk County. By sunset everything was in place just in case today, Wednesday, would be another good day. Date: October 28, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY #13 Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Distance Traveled:   0 Miles Accumulated Distance: 23 Miles With the exception of wrong way winds the components for a fly day were there. The winds on the ground were even cooperating, but aloft, it was another story. As we all formed up the 'morning circle' in the parking lot, everyone's eyes kept turning upwards to check the tree tops. As dawn approached, the rustle of leaves became more pronounced and the movement of the tree branches increased. A final check of the aviation weather sites revealed our fate for today was sealed. We're earthbound. The Down Day count restarted today. Date: October 27, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: 925 FOUND Location: S. Juneau Co. WI Distance Traveled:   Juneau Co. to S. Juneau Co. WI - 18 Miles Accumulated Distance: 23 Miles Not long ago Bev reported that 925 had been located and they were walking him to where they have left a crate to transport him in. At this juncture, we are unsure if he was going to be taken back to Stopover #1, or ahead to Stopover #2. As of right now, the pilots and top cover are back here in camp, after stopping at the hangar to put together more of our special crates we use to box the birds. Three crates are already enroute to the pensite, and once boxed, three of the birds will make the trip to Stopover Site #2 by road. Joe and Brooke have just pulled out with the balance of the crates and will box up the remaining birds at Stopover Site #1. After that is accomplished and the birds are gone, Richard and Chris, who, with Jack and Gerald pulled out right behind them, will go in and tear down the pen. The mobile pen trailer will then be hauled to Stopover Site #3 in Sauk County and set up there. Tomorrow is another day - and appears to offer another chance to fly. Maybe tomorrow is the day the Class of 2009 will 'get its act together.' Date: October 27, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: QUICK UPDATE Location: Juneau & S. Juneau Co. WI Distance Traveled:   Juneau Co. to S. Juneau Co. WI - ? Miles Accumulated Distance: ? Miles After some problems – wind or bird related I don’t yet know which, Joe managed to lead three birds to Stopover Site #2. There was some debate over the aviation radio about returning to Stopover #1 as some of the other birds were getting tired (suspect there had been a rodeo), but the pilots turned back on course for one more try. The one more try worked as Richard was successful at leading seven more to the S. Juneau pensite, while Bev reported that nine were back in the pen at Stopover Site #1. 3 + 7 + 9 = 19, so the pilots and ground crew are doing a ‘beak count’ – checking their math and bands to see which, if any, bird is unaccounted for. Wonderful live video via the CraneCam and TrikeCam this morning....hope you didn't miss seeing the first ever view of a migration flight arrival. News just received from Bev: 925 is the unaccounted for bird and the search is on...both on then ground in the tracking van and from the air. The birds that made the flight to South Juneau County Stopover Site #2 were: 901,  903, 905, 904, 908, 913, 918, 919, 926 and 929. That means still at Juneau County Stopover Site #1 are: 906, 907, 910, 911, 912, 914, 915, 924 and 927. Date: October 27, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Migration Day 12 - FLYING!! Location: Juneau Co. WI Distance Traveled:   Juneau Co. to S. Juneau Co. WI - ? Miles Accumulated Distance: ? Miles As usual, I was first up in camp. It was just after 3:30am when I left my ‘motorhome away from home’ and headed for the refuge Annex, the nearby building that has two bathrooms that we use. On the trek there, I noted we had a starry sky, dead calm, and a nip in the air that was absent yesterday. All good signs for the chance of a flight Chris Gullikson predicted we would have today. After yet another dousing with rain yesterday afternoon, just the thought of a another possible fly day gave me my first smile of the day and put a little spring in my step. Almost without fail, every morning before it becomes light, there is a deer that comes to feed on the acorns beneath the trees that skirt the parking spaces along the camp driveway. He lifts his head when he hears me, freezes in place, as do I, and we spend a few moments contemplating each other. At first, he would immediately bound away. But after more than two weeks of our paths crossing, he’s decided I’m harmless. Using whatever radar he has that tells him I'm no threat, he now just gives me a quick glance, then lowers his head and goes back to his breakfast. I sometimes stand and watch him until he leaves; as gracefully and as soundlessly as he came. Beautiful. The light in Heather’s camper is generally next to wink on, and coffee cups in hand, we meet under my porch light or her’s to quietly speculate on the day’s chances. If it’s looking good, we use mental telepathy to send messages to the rest of the crew. "Get up, get up, get up! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!" This morning was one of those. Mental telepathy must work because lights came on and bodies started emerging from trailers and motorhomes. Before long, the bathroom parade was in full swing, and not long after that, people were suiting up while trucks were warming up. Everyone quickly got mobile - moving into place for an attempted flight from our Juneau County Stopover site #1 to Stopover site #2 in South Juneau County.28F, 0 wind on the ground, and light up top. The clear pre-dawn sky had turned to overcast, and the product of the temp and the dew point being almost identical was, of course, fog. Neither fog nor a low ceiling kept us ground bound this morning however. The cranes and planes are in the air! Anxious to get going it seems, all the birds readily came out of the pen and took to the air behind today's lead pilot, Brooke with apparently little to no Crane rodeo needed. Try turning into the CraneCam now and watch their arrival (we hope shortly) at Stopover site #2. Date: October 26, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Geoff Tarbox Subject: The Plant Man Returns For More Location: Juneau Co. WI With the first migration stop, a new great lake with all the rain we’ve had, we were destined to have  some slow days. And what else is there to do on a slow day? Plants, of course! With my day free as bird, I zipped off into the refuge, from the West Site, to Boghaunter to round up some more of the usual suspects. First and foremost, catching up since my last update, wooly milkweed season has been over for this plant man for close to a month now. I managed to whittle down the patch to a mere ten pods before Rich King asked me to step back and leave a few to propagate on their own. After all, sooner or later, you’ve got to let mother nature do her job. I honestly lost track how many pods I hauled in, but it’s safe to assume that I pulled in thirty or forty. But one last thing I’d like to mention about wooly milkweeds actually comes from a question Kirk Garanflo asked me over a month ago. This volunteer at a remnant prairie site in Cook County Illinois shot me an e-mail almost a month ago asking me who exactly pollinates wooly milkweeds. From what I've gathered, two of wooly milkweeds' most prolific and reliable pollinators are pair of bees. The first is the leafcutting bee (Megachile mendica), which are about the size of a regular honeybee, only they're a little darker than honey bees, have light bands along their abdomen, and are native to our neck of the woods. They're pretty mellow, and only sting if you're actually picking them up. And even then, it's pretty mild compared to hornets or yellow jackets. They make their homes by tunnelling through rotted wood and thick-stemmed plants like roses. I doubt they hang out in woolies, since based on the ones I've seen, they are way too small for honeybee-sized critters to hang out in. In some cases, the pods are every bit as tall as the plant itself is. Living up to their name, they cut little snippets off of leaves, sort of like leaf cutter ants. But unlike their ant brothers/sisters, they don't use the leaves as food (or rather cultivating food). Instead, they carry them back to their tunnel/nests and use them to rig up some nesting cells. They're also solitary little fellas, which means it's the ladies who get saddled with digging the tunnels, making the nests, and raising the kids (usually 35-40 of 'em). Fun times. The second is the plasterer bee (Colletes armatus), which are mostly black with whitish body hairs. Again, they only sting you if you're really ticking them off, or if you're standing over their nest. Plasterers like to hang out in crevices in the ground, or between stones and bricks. They get their name from the goop they produce to make their mud nests. I guess you could say they form "villages" since they like to hang out in aggregations/clusters, but each female build and maintains their own home/nest. They don't form a collective, cohesive hive or colony like honeybees or ants would. They're actually only active for roughly a month, and never actually raise their kids themselves. All they do is the build their nest/cells, lay their eggs, stock up enough food for the kids to eat, seal the nest off, and that's it. See ya, nice knowing ya. Even though they're not threatened or endangered (as far as I know) these guys are having it kind of rough since their nests keep getting paved over or plowed under as we keep building on top of them. Back on track, the Virginia meadow beauties (Rhexia virginica) have also been harvested out for the year. The little fellas actually ripened up a day or two after my last entry. So I was pleasantly surprised to see them ready to roll when I strolled by them one evening, just to check on them. I left Boghaunter Trail with over fifty bitty, little, vase-shaped seedpods each about the size of my pinky fingernail. That pretty much instantly filled Rich’s quota on meadow beauties. If there’s any pods I missed, Rich and I agreed that’d be best to let them stay wild. That leaves us with our enigmatic white lettuce. First off, Bev and I managed hunt down not one, but four wily, elusive white lettuces by the West Site. Upon questioning Rich King, I found out that the white lettuce he wanted me to fetch was Prenanthes alba AKA, rattlesnakeroot, and lion’s-foot. Once again, it’s fancy Latin name, broken down bit by bit, means drooping (Pren) flower (anthes) and white (alba). The plant itself is roughly two to three feet tall, sports jagged, toothy leaves, bleeds white sap when bruised, and is crowned with dozens upon dozens of tiny, white, vaguely dandelion-like flowers (which isn’t surprising, since it’s related to dandelions). There’s actually no real shortage of anywhere in Wisconsin. Ol’ Rich had his share of the threatened endangered white lettuce species in stock, but ironically, none of rattlesnakeroot. Either way, the lettuce-y plants I spotted along my strolls along Boghaunter Trail were indeed rattlesnakeroot. Between those, the elusive four along the West Site, and another one I found behind the dorms by chance, I had plenty to keep me busy. Before migration “started”, I had already filled up two Ziploc baggies worth of tiny little, dandelion-like seeds courtesy of West Site, Boghaunter, and the dorms. But that all isn’t to say that I didn’t have new plants to keep me busy. One of which is yellow-eyed grass (Xyris sp.). With its fingernail-sized, yellow, three-petalled flowers and slender, grass-like growth form, you’d be forgiven if you overlooked it any tamarack swamp or marsh. Incidentally, its Latin name is actually derived from the Greek “xyron” meaning razor, a reference to its double-edged leaves. I spotted a handful by chance growing next to some sundew in a ditch just past Site 4, which was exactly where Rich wanted me to investigate two weeks ago. Truth be told, pickings were kind of slim. Whether they’re that easy to miss, or there weren’t that many to begin with (which wouldn’t surprise me; I only saw one or two in bloom), I only came away with four seedheads. Oh well. Not every hunt can be as overwhelmingly successful as the woolies were, can they? And last but certainly not least, my personal favorite, the closed gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), one of the prettiest plants anyone could hope to find in the fall season. With its myriad of striking deep blue, bud-like flowers that never actually open, it truly is a sight to behold. Sadly, even though it’s the most common gentian, it’s fairly rare. If you haven’t seen one yet, be sure to keep an eye out for one in the late fall when you’re in a moderately damp, meadow, prairie, or open woods with full to partial sun. Just be sure to not pick it. Translated, its genus name, Gentiana, refers to an Illyrian king around 500 BC named Gentius, who used the roots of a yellow gentian to help fend off malaria in his troops. The species name, Andrewsii, refers to 19th century English botanical artist and engraver, Henry Charles Andrews. Bev and Robert found a patch growing out in the Canfield site, pretty close to the runway, no less. There were even a handful growing along the path we frequently walked down to reach the pen. However, they can be finicky little plants that have always given Rich King trouble when he tries raising them. But it’s a challenge he seems to be up to since he gave me the go to fetch a few for him. Around a week or two ago, I ventured out to Canfield site and filled up a Ziploc baggy’s worth of ripe, split open gentian pods, all filled with countless powder-like seeds. As with the meadow beauties, I was amazed to see that the gentians were ready to go this soon. But with frost and winter knocking at their door this time of year, and considering they’re actually one of the last plants of the year to bloom, I guess they don’t have the time to dilly dally around that spring or summer plants do. And there’s still more capsules out to plucked. But seeing as how tough they are to raise in captivity, and how well these guys were growing without us (or at least here they were), I figured it’d be best to leave several of the plants alone. At least until the lost art of raising gentians was recovered. With all that brushing up done, I’m actually sad to say there wasn’t much going on much of anywhere. With November around the corner, and the first frost and snow already here, a lot of the plants ‘round these parts have already closed up shop. All the white lettuce by the dorms and West Site are fished out. Boghaunter proved to be a little more rewarding; I had a half baggy full of white lettuce seeds when I left. I didn’t bother checking out the yellow-eyed grass. If there really aren’t that many to go around, it might be best to let the ones I missed to fend for themselves. The important thing is, I didn’t come away empty-handed. But that isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy my little sojourn. I always have a ball walking these trails, even this late in the season. And some time out of the trailer never killed anybody. The world is safe again. But…for how long?? Date: October 26, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY #11 Location: Juneau Co. WI Under overcast skies, with a temp of43F and very light winds, a flight this morning turned from possibility to reality. The ground crew left camp to get in position, and by 7:10am CST, the pilots were enroute to the hangar. With the soggy condition of the ground at Stopover Site #1, they were expecting to have to do an 'air pick up' today rather than a trike landing to collect the birds. But... But...performing an air pick up never became an issue. We already knew a low ceiling was likely, but after waiting at the hangar for an hour or more, rather than lifting it descended with a thud. Reluctantly, the pilots were forced to call it a day and the entire team stood down. At the moment, tomorrow appears to offer another opportunity to fly, and perhaps even Wednesday too. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen JUNEAU COUNTY, WI Volk Field Air National Guard Base is the home of Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center, the 128th Air Control Squadron and the Wisconsin National Guard Museum. It consists of 2,336 acres adjacent to Interstate Highway 90/94, north of the Village of Camp Douglas and provides a year-round training environment for Air National Guard units to enhance their combat readiness. The single runway is 150 feet wide and 9,000 feet long with 1,000 foot overruns. It can accommodate all military aircraft and has both precision and non-precision navigational approaches along with a tower and radar approach control. It is one of four such sites located in the United States. Others are located at Alpena, Michigan, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Savannah, Georgia. Directly under the command of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin, each year more than 200 units from the Army and Air National Guard, Air Force, Air Force Reserves, the Marine Corps and Naval Reserves use Volk Field. Other users include federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Civil Air Patrol and youth organizations. Date: October 25, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Joe Duff Subject: LESSER OF THE EVILS Location: Juneau Co. WI The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership is based on the premise that no one is in charge. In truth, that is not as sarcastic as it might sound. It is, in fact, a commentary on the management style of a large group of diverse agencies each bringing a different talent to the table. OM does not report to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and certainly they don’t answer to us. Instead, we strive for consensus when tough decisions are necessary. If we can’t reach a happy conclusion we at least try for consent. In other words we may not agree but we can live with the wishes of the majority. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has authority over all endangered species so they have the final say, and we work on a National Wildlife Refuge at the discretion of the manager. But OM is in charge of all the day to day bird activity, and those decisions are also made by consensus. Depending on the situation, that is either an excellent way to capitalize on the expertise of a well experienced team or, an attempt to share the blame. Lately those decisions are harder to make, and rather than selecting the best course of action we are picking the lesser of two evils. The weather is the scapegoat for all the things wrong with our world. We blame it for wet feet, frayed nerves, leaky motorhomes, and shortcomings in our training schedule. These complaints are not unfounded. In the last month we have flown only a few times. The rain and the wind and the cold came after an extended period of perfect flying conditions, and coincided with the mixing of the last cohort. Once the three groups of birds have learned to fly we bring them together to form one flock. They must then organize a new governing body within their ranks. They peck, push, and bully each other with more bluster than menace, like high school boys vying for top position in their peer group. It doesn’t take long for each bird to find its place and for order to be enforced under a new hierarchy. It does however take decent weather and lots of practice flights before unity is restored in the air. And that’s the problem we faced this year. Just at a critical time, the skies opened, the temperature dropped, the winds picked up, and nothing flew for what seemed like weeks. Even the mornings when we could get airborne were not perfect. Split Decisions - Aircraft lift is produced by air passing over the wing. The faster you go the more lift is generated. That’s why fighter jets can maneuver perfectly well on stubby wings no bigger than a sheet of plywood. We work at the other end of the flight envelope. The slower we go the less lift the wing produces, and at some point, it stops being an airplane and becomes a rock. That transition is known as a stall, and we spend a lot of time on that ridge hanging on the few pounds of lift left in a wing not allowed to move fast enough to do its job. You can change the wing on a trike in only a few minutes and we have two different wings in our arsenal. The original is big and forgiving with 19 square meters of lifting area and lots of wires and posts to hold it up. It is the favorite among the pilots because it holds on to every last ounce of lift before giving up into a stall so moderate we call it mush. The problem with these wings is the wires that can form an airborne catcher, and over the years they have caused the death of 3 birds and injured 2 others. Thanks to the generosity of the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund we were able to buy strut based wings without the overhead superstructure. They are far safer for birds but not as forgiving. They are smaller with only 17 meters of lifting surface and when they decide to stop flying and begin falling, they do it abruptly without much warning. In the gusty winds that have been our best flying days lately, slowing to a stall at low altitudes becomes dangerous. So the question is, do we fly the more forgiving wing and risk a bird injury or, fly the smaller one and risk everything. In fact if you visit our hangar you will see two aircraft fitted with the old wings and two with the new. Tough Decision - With the birds stuck in the pen and little or no opportunity to fly they become sedentary and more reluctant to leave. The poor conditions we have been forced to train in means we can’t slow the aircraft enough for them to find the wing. Soon they fall behind, and discouragement turns them back to the pen. With each weekly training session in gusty winds we teach a similar lesson. They fly a few circuits with the aircraft, break for home, and soon they are back in the comfort of the wet pen with lots of food. So here is the question. Do we keep training at the familiar pen site and reinforcing that same bad lesson, or risk crating them to the first stopover? There is always the possibility of injury in the crate, and birds captured and packed into a box can soon become wary of people dressed in white. A couple of good flying days would help, but that wasn’t in the forecast, so this week we boxed 8 birds and moved them off the refuge. A disappointing start to a long journey. Pending Decisions - The next flight will be ~18 miles and I worry that we will have birds scattered all over the county. So here’s the next question. Do we pick a few of the birds we know will turn back and crate them to Stopover #2? That would prevent them from dropping out and encouraging the rest to give up the chase. We could at least take the ones that have a chance of making it. Even one good flight with the core group would teach the right lesson, allow us to begin rebuilding the flock, and do wonders for our spirits. But, we have to balance that advantage against the potential damage crating could do to the few that are already reluctant to follow the aircraft. With limited options and no break in the forecast, there are no good decisions, just less bad ones. Date: October 25, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Migration Day #10 - DOWN DAY #5 Location: Juneau Co. WI If you read the entry and looked the photos posted here yesterday afternoon (see below) you will have a better idea of what we've been experiencing here at Necedah. Unfortunately the welcome respite from the rain we had mid to late day yesterday was all too brief. The rain started up again last evening, and while for the moment it has slowed to an off and on drizzle, the wet weather is still with us this morning. Needless to say, we're still grounded. Regrettably, we can't even offer you views of the cranes via the CraneCam. The rain has turned the ground at the pensite at Stopover #1 into one big bog, making it impossible for us to haul the camera trailer in there. Date: October 24, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: AFTERMATH OF THE RAIN Location: Juneau Co. WI Bev and Brooke shot the photos below at our Juneau County Stopover site early this afternoon. The travel pen was set up in a small dip in the landscape, and as you can see, what started out as a dry pen is now a wet pen - much to the delight of the Class of 2009. The record rainfall of the last few days has left much of the area either underwater or 'sink-in' soggy. It also required moving our camper to high ground before it became impossible to get it out. Joe, Heather and Chris went to the site earlier to deploy the CraneCam only to discover that even the ground that is not underwater is so saturated that they can't get the camera trailer into position. As of this moment, whether we will be able to provide CraneCam views from this location appears to be iffy at best. We've currently got some very welcome sunshine under brilliant blue skies along with a relatively stiff breeze. Hopefully this will help speed up the drying out process. Accumulated rain water floods the grassy strip in front of the pen which serves as the runway for our trikes. At one point, Brooke reported the water level in the pen reached the top of his rubber boots. Chicks are happy. Much of the runway is underwater - the balance is 'swampy'. Departure from here will likely require an 'air pick-up'. OM's tracking van is pulled up behind the Arctic Fox, the camper that stays within proximity of the birds. Date: October 24, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: EASTERN MIGRATORY POPULATION UPDATE Location: Juneau Co. WI In this report, *=Female, D=Direct Autumn Release. As of October 17, WCEP trackers reported a maximum of 54 birds in the Eastern Migratory Population (EMP) were located within the core reintroduction area. 15 others were also in Wisconsin but outside the core area. Locations of the rest of the EMP were: 2 – Lower Michigan; 1 – Indiana; 2 – Minnesota; and 1 whose location was not determined. Two Whooping cranes, 516 and D744* have not been located in 2009. D744* was last detected in Paulding County, OH on November 18 of last year. 516 was last confirmed in Marion County, FL in December 2008. Population Composition and Distribution All 12 of this past spring’s breeding pairs remain in the core reintroduction area. 105 and 501* have separated and 501* has since paired with 316. Six sub-adult pairs also remain in the core area: 216 & 716*, 307 & 726*, D627 & D742*, 402 * D746 512 & 722*, and 709 & 717*. A seventh sub-adult pair, 707 & 739* were in Minnesota as of Oct. 13. Unpaired adults / sub-adults in the core area (not including the Class of 2008 who are all in Wisconsin) were: 101, 412, 416, 506 (last observed Sept 1), 509, 514, 524, 713 (last detected Sept 17), 712, 107*, D528*, 733, D527* (last observed Sept 30) 703. Outside the core area were: 727* (last reported in Indiana Oct. 3), D533 (Last reported in Michigan Aug. 18) Long Term Missing (more than 90 days) 706 (last detected May 6) 511 (last recorded May 11) D737 (last reported in Michigan June 14) 520* (last reported June 16) D628 (last detected June 23) 724 (last detected June 26) Report compiled from data supplied by WCEP Trackers Richard Urbanek, Eva Szyszkoski, Sara Zimorski, Jess Thompson, and K. J. Farrell. Yesterday, the cool temp and WNW winds may have prompted many of the Sandhills here on the refuge to begin to make their move south. In the morning, score after score flew over headed in a south-easterly direction. Last evening it seems as if only a small percentage returned. Brooke and Bev reported they had three adult Whooping cranes visit Stopover Site #1 yesterday afternoon. Two disappeared quite quickly, but Brooke watched as the the third, calling loudly, took to the air. He said even after he lost sight of the bird, he could hear his calls for almost ten minutes. Date: October 24, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: Migration Day #9 - Down Day #4 Location: Juneau Co. WI It's been four days since there were cranes and planes in the air. Today will be another day spent going nowhere. The rain finally let up and the threat of snow overnight never materialized. So, what's left? You guessed it - WIND. Very strong WNW winds have even the larger branches on the trees in motion. The CraneCam remains out of commission. Thursday, the batteries went into the hangar for an overnight re-charging, but then some technical problems delayed its redeployment. Hopefully we will have them resolved and the CraneCam in place at Stopover Site #1 before too long. migration trivia compliments of vi white and steve cohen JUNEAU COUNTY, WI "Forward," is the state motto of Wisconsin since 1851. Would that the bogged down OM team could be a living example! Perhaps the folks who currently are pushing to change it to "Live it like you mean it" are onto something. While they're at it they should change the state bird from American Robin to Whooping Crane. "On Wisconsin," the famous fight song of the University of Wisconsin, was regarded by John Philip Sousa as "the finest of college marching songs," The little known truth, is it was originally intended for another school. The tune was composed in 1909 by William T. Purdy, with the intention of entering it into a competition for a new fight song for the University of Minnesota. Carl Beck, a former University of Wisconsin student, convinced Purdy to withdraw it from the contest at the last minute and allow his alma mater to use it instead. Beck then wrote new lyrics, changing the words "Minnesota, Minnesota" to "On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!" What we need is "On Migration! On, Migration!" Date: October 23, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Erin Harris Subject: BIRDS GONE - PEOPLE NOT Location: Juneau Co. WI After several failed attempts to join the two groups by air, it was decided to crate the eight remaining chicks housed at the West pensite and transport them to the first Stopover site in the van. Before transporting the chicks to their new temporary home yesterday, we released them one last time at the West Site for some playtime and exercise. While Chris, Geoff, Richard and I were babysitting the West Site chicks, Bev and Brooke were allowing the other 12 chicks to exercise at the Stopover site. When we arrived at the West Site we were happily greeted by 8 excited chicks. Once the doors were open, 6 graceful chicks ran out of the pen and immediately took to the air. After some joyful flying they landed at the end of the runway. Two reluctant chicks, 910 and 913, didn’t want to leave the wet pen, but with encouragement by Richard and some treats, they ran out and flew a few circuits ending up with their flock-mates at the end of the runway. The ‘hang out’ spot today was a puddle at the end of the runway, which had many exciting ‘toys’. Even though we gave them cranberries and grapes, the favorite toy was simply clumps of grass. They were so excited to be free. Their favorite game was throwing clumps of grass into the air and jumping with their wings spread out, all the while never taking their eyes off of their new discovery. When recess was over, we got them all into the pen, limiting them to the dry pen area, in preparation for crating. The four of us went back to camp to come up with a plan and to collect the crates. We decided that Brian, Richard, Geoff and I would crate the chicks and transport them to the first stopover. With Brian as the coach and Richard in the pen handing out the chicks, Geoff and I crated them one at a time. Geoff and I took turns as to who handled the chicks and who dealt with the crate door so that we would both be able to do this if required while on the road. It took two trips to move all of the chicks to the first stopover. The first trip we only transported three chicks as there was a problem with one of the crates. Brooke was awaiting our arrival, and when we arrived, he went and prepared the pen for the new chicks. We unloaded the van on the runway, and after Richard drove the van away and we got the all clear from Brooke, Brian, Geoff and I walked the chicks to the pen, and got them in safely with treats. We then went back to camp to make more room in the van so we could move the rest of the chicks. We returned to the West Site to crate the remaining five chicks. Once all five crates were safely in the van, Richard, Brian, Geoff and I again went back to the stopover site. This time, it was Bev awaiting our arrival. She walked ahead to prepare the pen, and when she gave us the signal, Brian, Geoff and I walked the last five chicks to the pen. Brian was positioned in the back of the pen, trying to keep the already resident chicks distracted. Geoff and I were standing at the gate, trying to make sure nobody got out, only in. I failed at this twice, as 914 snuck past me. Luckily, she only went foraging not too far from the pen, and was easily lured back in. 910 and 913 were the last to go in because they were playing with clumps of grass, and running around with them. You can’t help but smile when they get so excited, especially about grass. Richard and Bev were very patient, and eventually got them in the pen. Brian stayed behind to watch over the chicks, and to make sure they all settled in to their portable home. With all of the Class of 2009 now at Stopover #1 the question becomes, “When will the OM Team be able to migrate off the refuge?” Date: October 23, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION DAY #8 Location: Juneau Co. WI You might think that with all of our trailers and motorhomes parked within steps of each other, that communication between team members would be a simple matter. The reality is that at any one time we can have 16 people all going in different directions and all doing different jobs. Not surprisingly, this often leads to several left hands not knowing what the right hands are doing. In the absence of knowledge, assumptions are made.....and you know what they say about ‘assume’. This is how today got to be Migration Day #8. Yes, that's right, it's Migration Day #8. But, no, you haven't missed anything. While I’ve been waiting for ‘a departure flyover’ and all of the birds to be at Stopover #1 to begin counting Migration Days, I discovered that Joe has been updating the Whooper Hotline daily counting October 16 as Migration Day #1. Sooo, that is how today, October 23rd, got to be Migration Day #8. Yesterday afternoon, the last eight birds still on the refuge made an inauspicious departure when they were crated and moved to Stopover Site #1. Hopefully, the strange location will encourage their attentiveness and loyalty to the aircraft on the next leg of the migration – a flight of <20 miles. There will be no further movement of any sort today however. The temperature hovers in the high 30's; winds are out of the NE blowing 10 - 20mph; and, the rain continues to fall - alternating between spitting, drizzling, and beating down. And speaking of down, so is the CraneCam. The batteries went for an overnight re-charging but it will be re-deployed at Stopover Site #1 later today. An entry by Intern Erin Harris describing yesterday's activity will be be posted here, also later today. Date: October 22, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: DIFFERENT DAY - SAME STORY Location: Necedah, WI Maybe weathermen have a quirky sense of humor. This morning's forecast called for a 40% chance of rain - despite the fact that it hasn't stopped raining since early last evening. Large or small, every indentation in the ground is brimming with water. The puddles are everywhere - and they are likely to grow larger as the prediction for tomorrow is a 100% chance of rain. The rain has us grounded of course, but wouldn't you know it...we've got favorable winds. They've swung around to come out of the NNW. What we wouldn't give for a confluence of good weather and winds!! Date: October 22, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: 710 - AKA KERNEL Location: Necedah, WI Thought you might be interested in an update on 710. He was the Whooping crane that was removed from the Eastern Migratory Population in early June due to his lack of human avoidance and his continual ‘leading other birds astray’. A home for 710 was found at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, FL. I recently heard from Rachel Nelson, Director of Public Relations at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, and she also kindly send along the two photos we share here with you. “We call him Kernel,” Rachel said. “He now lives with Whoopie, an adult female Whooping crane, in a large natural exhibit shared with four endangered Key deer. Zoo animal care staff report that Kernel did exceptionally well with gradual introductions to the exhibit and other animals, and has successfully transitioned to a crane diet (previous preference for corn). Kernel and Whoopie responded well to one another and have been observed wading in shallow water side by side, digging and foraging, and displaying the crane mating dance.” 710 (Kernel) on exhibit at the Lawry Park Zoo. Whoopie and Kernel make a handsome pair. Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo is recognized by the State of Florida as a primary center for Florida wildlife conservation and biodiversity. In addition to housing a pair of these endangered birds in the Lykes Florida Wildlife Center at the Zoo, the Zoo partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to provide veterinary and staff support to both the non-migratory and migratory endangered Whooping crane population in Florida. Date: October 21, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Bev Paulan Subject: Babysitting the Birds Location: Necedah, WI I awoke Sunday night around 2 am. As I lay in my bed listening to the deep breathing of my camper mate, I felt the rig rocking with the buffeting winds. The sounds of coyote yapping and howling came to my ears through the cracked window. My thoughts immediately went to the pen, a mere 100 yards from the camper, separated only by a small woodlot. I listened to the music of the night, trying to judge distance, determining if I should get up and walk out to check the 11 chicks tucked into their pen here at Stopover Site 1. Deciding the coyotes were far enough away, and knowing I had double checked the electric fence at the pen, I drifted back to sleep gently rocked by the stiff breeze. When I woke at a more civilized hour of 6:30, I felt and heard the same wind, reinforcing the guess from the night before of another day of no flying. Brooke offered to go do the morning check of the birds and I gladly took him up on this. Being out here where the birds are really is not a hardship. Even though we have no electricity or bathrooms with showers, we make up for that lack in quiet and proximity to our flock. It is always dark, no street lamps robbing us of the starry skies. And we can always hear the owls, coyotes, crickets and wind. At every remote site on migration, Brooke and I camp as close to the pen as possible to ensure the safety of the chicks. We have been out in the middle of the night in thunderstorms, repairing wind damaged pens at midnight and using the night scope to spy on too close coyotes. This ability to be at the pen in mere moments gives the entire team peace of mind. We can intervene in case a wayward hunter wanders too close to the birds, act as Whooping Crane ambassador to curious neighbors, and as all-around repair team and aviculturists as needed. Even at our second migration stop, we are the only two on site with the birds. We are so close to Necedah, that it is easier for everyone to stay camped on the refuge and to keep the trikes safely in the hangar, than to pack up and move the entire flying circus. Others on the team are good about spelling us when we need to get a shower or do laundry, so it is not total solitary confinement. We do miss a lot of group meals and both of us are rarely at the same event together, but I am not complaining. It is all worth it when I walk out to the pen after having just exited the camper and I hear the excited peeps of my charges. I can watch unseen from a spot in the woods and see what they are up to. I can wander out to give treats, pumpkins or corn, whenever I get the urge, instead of having to drive over to the pensite. It is truly a privilege to be here babysitting the birds during migration. It is also an honor bestowed upon us by the team, indicating their deepest trust in our abilities to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety and security of these wonderful creatures. Date: October 21, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: ONE WORD TELLS THE TALE Location: Necedah, WI Today's story can be told in just one word - rain. The inclement weather moved in last evening, persisted through the night, and as it continues, negates any opportunity to fly this morning. Heather and I are debating whether this is, "Operation Stagnation" or, "Operation Frustration". Seeing this is the 12th morning past our target departure date, I guess both descriptors work. Migration Trivia compliments of Vi White and Steve Cohen JUNEAU COUNTY, WI Necedah, population ~888, is a friendly village nestled among majestic rock formations, natural bluffs and pine trees. It is located near Petenwell Lake, Castle Rock Lake, and the Wisconsin and Yellow Rivers. The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and Buckhorn State Park are close by, and many bike trails are minutes away. The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge offers a 'back to nature' experience, and is of course, the site of summer flight training for the young-of-the-year Whooping Cranes that are led south by Operation Migration's ultralight aircraft each fall. Necedah is also home to the Necedah Lions’ Club Whooping Crane Festival”. It is held annually on the third Saturday in September and attracts Craniacs from across the country. Date: October 20, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: AM I ALLOWED TO SAY, "D--N"? Location: Necedah, WI Although east winds opened a potential window for us this morning, we thought a flight today might be a challenge – and it proved to be that and more. The pilots deployed for an attempt to lead the nine chicks remaining at the West pensite to our Stopover Site #2, as well as to pick up the 11 birds from Stopover Site #1 and lead them there as also. Everyone was off and running - Heather and Erin to release the birds at the West pensite; Bev and Geoff to Stopover site #1 for the release there, while Brian Clauss went to get in position in the tracking van. Jack Wrighter, Gerald Murphy, and John Cooper were each in a vehicle at the East, North and Canfield pensites to play swamp monsters, in person or with vehicle horns, in case birds decided to land out there. When Heather and Erin released the birds, Joe, today’s lead pilot, got eight of the nine into the air. One bird, 911, hung back and wouldn’t come out of the wet pen. (Poor Erin got a freezing cold soaking trying to coax him out of the wetpen.) Despite Joe circling and circling to try and get the birds to form up on his wing, they wouldn’t cooperate, and it was another Crane Rodeo. While Joe flew off with one bird on the wing, Richard swooped in to help with the round-up. And Brooke, who had been on his way to Stopover Site #1, turned back to also lend a hand. Eventually they got seven birds back on the ground at the West pensite, which, including 911 who never got out of the pen, made eight. Joe managed to make it to Stopover site #1 with his one bird, 907. So the scorecard now reads: 12 at Stopover Site #1 and 8 still on the refuge. I guess that's progress - but d--n, will we ever get going?!? Date: October 19, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Heather Ray Subject: CraneCam & TrikeCam Truly Global Location: Necedah, WI Advances in technology have made it possible for us to give you, our supporters, never-before-seen firsthand glimpses into our work. Whether flight-conditioning in the summer months or simply watching the young Whooping cranes socializing in their enclosure at the Necedah NWR, the OM CraneCam, made possible through the generosity of Duke Energy, is gaining new viewers each day. Deploying a wildlife camera is challenging and when you add the remoteness of the Necedah Refuge into the fray, it multiplies the challenges. There are no electrical outlets anywhere near the training sites, so batteries must be used – 6 large industrial batteries, in fact. They must be charged every 2nd day to keep the camera and the onboard computer and video server working. To do this we acquired a very quiet generator, which consumes about a gallon of gas for each re-charge. Because the camera is set-up as close as possible to the cranes, the generator must be connected to the camera-trailer by a 250-foot extension cord to ensure they don’t hear it when it’s running. LIVE images are captured by 1 of 2 cameras, each mounted inside plastic domes, which are situated atop a large mast that can be raised 30 feet skyward. The footage then travels down the 30 ft. mast; joins with an audio feed; goes through an onboard video server in analog format and then travels to what is called an ADVC unit, which spits it out in digital format. Once digitized the combined video/audio signal travels back up the mast to a yagi antenna mounted just above the camera domes before being sent by radio frequency to another yagi antenna, which is mounted atop a 40 foot tall recycled TV tower. This tower and the receiving yagi are fastened to the tallest tree we could find, near the closest location we could get a DSL line installed, which just happens to be 4.5 miles away from the Canfield training site, and separated by hundreds, if not thousands of very tall trees--all this just to get the feed ready to go somewhere! Once it reaches this point, the data travels through an Ethernet cable that winds through roughly 500 ft of trees and then underground a short distance, before eventually arriving at a router, which sends it to Holland – a distance of roughly 4100 miles. But the journey of the CraneCam feed isn’t over yet. In fact it still has to travel another 5700 or so miles from Holland to just northeast of Johannesburg, South Africa before you; the viewer gets to see it. And we can’t forget that the camera doesn’t move on its own! We’ve been incredibly fortunate to recruit some amazing volunteers to assist with ‘camera-driving’ duties. When I’m not in migration-mode, most mornings, I remotely control the pan/tilt/zoom from either my home, or my desk at OM headquarters in Ontario, Canada. Add this responsibility to the myriad other duties and well, there are not enough hours in the day, so we recruited 7 individuals to help out, in this, our first year with the camera. They too can log in remotely from their homes, and they do so quite readily to give viewers an enhanced viewing experience. Colleen Reidy-Chase, Sue Walsh and David Howell are in Florida, Mary Dooley; Indiana, Dave Kitzman; Minnesota during the summer and Florida in winter, and lastly, but certainly not least, we have sisters Darlene Lambert and Cindy Loken, both from Wisconsin. These are the volunteers who together give MANY hours each week to driving the camera AND to responding, very knowledgeably I might add, to the many questions posed to them during the live chats. We have hundreds of NEW Craniacs watching now—and we expect this number will only increase. Understandably there are many questions being asked and our CraneCam volunteers respond to each and every question, to the best of their ability, while simultaneously operating the Pan/Tilt/Zoom so that there is always something of interest to see. We cannot possibly thank them enough for the enthusiastic dedication they have each provided since the end of July when we went LIVE with the CraneCam. We must also pay homage to the folks at Zaplive in Holland, and WildEarth.tv (WE) in South Africa. When I first made contact with the fellas at WE back in April, our task seemed incredibly daunting, but Graham’s encouragement and can-do attitude is infectious and Peter’s technical skills with streaming video are second to none. If you haven’t yet visited them online, please be sure to stop in to watch their wildlife cam located on the Djuma Game Preserve in South Africa – When you’re NOT watching the CraneCam or the new TrikeCam, of course. And now, weather willing, migration is upon us (or so we hope); with it, comes an entirely new set of challenges where the CraneCam and TrikeCam are concerned. We will not have benefit of a DSL connection at our remote stopover locations along the route. We will therefore have to rely on Plan A: cellular technology; however, given the remoteness of our stopover locations, we may not be able to count on decent connections at every location. Plan B: involves shooting video clips at those locations where no reliable signal exists and then, once I get to within decent cellular signal, I’ll upload these directly to our YouTube Channel, which can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/OperationMigration  Once you subscribe to our YouTube Channel, you’ll be notified each time a new clip is posted. We’d also like to invite you to keep up with us via Facebook and Twitter; where postings and tweets will be made during each migration day. You can join our Facebook Group here and/or follow us on Twitter @OperMigration. Who knows, we may even need to resort to developing a Plan C, D or even E but until then, we ask for your patience and understanding. Rest assured we’ll do our best. Date: October 19, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: THE TEMP TOLD THE TALE Location: Necedah, WI What a change. When I ventured outside this morning there was no doubt that the south winds had arrived. At 4am, it was already 23 degrees warmer that at the same time the day before. With 6mph winds on the ground and the SSW winds aloft blowing from 10 - 20 mph, camp was a picture of inactivity. No flying today for the Class of 2009. (Apologies for the very late posting today. We exceeded our allowed bandwith on the satellite yesterday so connectivity was a problem this morning. In fact, in order to accomplish what we need to get done today, Heather and I are currently working from a restaurant in town so we can use their WiFi.) Date: October 18, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: NOT DOABLE Location: Necedah, WI Again we were hoping this would be 'the' day. Our weather guru, Chris Gullikson, determined that although the winds this morning had a southerly component, they were primarily out of the west, and that we might have a chance of a flight. Once the pilots and ground crew cleared camp, David, Linda and I once again headed for the DU Observation Platform to join the Craniacs waiting there in anticipation of a flyover. We were barely in place when the aviation radio came alive with a chorus of pilots' voices. "It's pretty trashy," said Chris. "It's rough up higher too," said Richard. "I don't think we can do this," said Brooke. "This just isn't doable," said Joe, "let's call it and stand down." And so, before it got started, this morning's attempted flight to move the last nine chicks from the refuge to Stopover #1 ended. If we're lucky enough to have another window of opportunity late this afternoon, it's possible the pilots will try again today. If not.... well, tomorrow's another day. The CraneCam will be going off air shortly. We are pulling it out of the field to take it to the first Stopover site to test what kind of a signal we can pick up there. After that, it will be returned to the refuge and broadcasting will resume. Date: October 17, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: FOUR MORE AT STOPOVER #1 Location: Necedah, WI Joe, Richard, and Chris took to the air again shortly after 4pm to try and take advantage of the late afternoon calm. Erin and Geoff manned the pen doors for the release. Four of the 13 chicks that remained on the refuge, (those at the East site) are in the air (following Richard) and are enroute to Stopover site #1 where Brian Clauss is waiting to call the birds down. CraneCam viewers were treated to quite an extended view of the departure as the trike circled around giving the chicks time to 'latch onto the wing'. Now we have 11 birds at Stopover #1 and 9 still at the refuge. It may not be the fastest way to do a migration leg, but it is progress - - and we'll take it! Date: October 17,2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: ANOTHER, GO - NO GO Location: Necedah, WI The 0 to light winds on ground this morning shortly after 4am began to pick up as sunrise approached. Aloft, they were a little stronger than we had hoped for, but the pilots thought a flight might be doable. With this in mind, camp emptied out as everyone headed out for their respective positions. David and Linda Boyd and I once again joined the crowd gathered at the DU Observation Platform in the hope of witnessing the departure flyover - but it was not to be. Over the aviation radio I could hear the pilots enroute to the pensite discussing the conditions. Within moments they called it - we would stand down. They turned back toward the hangar, but altered course enough to do a fly-by of the Observation Platform for the loyal, but disappointed Craniacs. Had we been able to lead the 13 young Whoopers who are still on the refuge to our first Stopover site this morning, we would have been on our way and could have officially called today, "Migration Day 1". Oh well, there's always tomorrow...or the next day....or the next - it was the tortoise not the hare that won the race, remember. Date: October 16, 2009 - Entry 4 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: THERE'S ALWAYS AN 'IF' Location: Necedah, WI When the wind died down to almost a dead calm late this afternoon, Richard and Chris flew over to the Canfield site to try and get 905 and 925 to follow. And follow they did. So well in fact that instead of leading them over to the East site to join their flock-mates there, they were able to lead them to our first stopover site. There, they were put in our travel pen with the five birds who had successfully made the flight in the morning. That makes the score: 7 on migration and 13 yet to leave the refuge. If the forecast for tomorrow holds - 34F, light winds out of the NNW, and partly cloudy skies – it will be great for flying. If we manage to get the last 13 young cranes in the air and to the first Stopover site, we can officially call Saturday, October 17th, “Migration Day #1”. Date: October 16 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: THE REST OF THE STORY Location: Necedah, WI This will be a poor substitute for an exciting lead pilot report, but I'm afraid for today you will have to make do with me as other pressing duties are keeping Joe away from his computer this afternoon. By the time the dust...er.. cranes settled this morning, we had all 20 birds safely tucked in a pen - but in four different locations. Back at the East site, from whence this willful bunch of 20 recalcitrants began this morning, are: 912, 918, 927, and 929. In the pen at the West site are: 901, 907, 910, 904, 913, 914, 919, 911, and 903. Keeping each other company at the Canfield site are 905 and 925. Thanks to 906, 908, 915, 924, and 926 - and their fearless leaders, pilots Brooke and Richard, we can say the 2009 migration has officially begun - sort of. Brooke managed to lead three birds and Richard two, over to the our first Juneau County stopover site. Bev and Brooke have already moved to that location where they will remain camped until our next move. And speaking of our next move - later this afternoon, wind conditions permitting, Chris and Richard hope to be able to lead 905 and 925 from the Canfield site, back to the East site. This would mean we would have six at that site and nine at the West site. IF the forecast conditions for tomorrow morning remain unchanged, the prevailing thought of the day is to launch and lead the birds from their locations to Stopover site #1, one group at a time. Now, that's our plan, but of course the birds seem to always manage to have the last word. Departure Flyover Viewing Location for those wanting a glimpse of the cranes and planes in person: The Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is located on the north side of Highway 21 and west of Highway 80. Approaching from the west off Interstate 94 at Tomah, WI, travel ~15 miles east on Highway 21; from the east, travel ~5 miles along Highway 21 from Necedah, WI. Turn north onto Headquarters Road and continue about half a mile to the Ducks Unlimited Observation Platform. Sunrise will be around 7:17amCST tomorrow, so you will want to be in place no later than that time. Hope to see you there! Date: October 16, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: 2009 MIGRATION IS UNDERWAY - of a sort Location: Necedah, WI Six days after our October 10th target departure date, the Class of 2009 finally got off on the first leg of their first migration. Sort of.... Camp came alive early. At 4am the temp was 26F and the sky was clear and filled with stars. There wasn't a leaf stirring on the trees - all signs of a potential fly day. By 6:30, vehicles were being warmed up, and the entire team was in motion. Just after sunrise this morning (7:17am) all four pilots left OM’s hangar for the short flight to the East pensite. While Chris, Brooke, and Richard circled above, Joe, today's lead pilot, landed and signaled the ground crew to open the pen doors. Bev subsequently reported that six were reluctant to come out of the pen, but eventually they got airborne. And that's when the Crane Rodeo started. The details of this morning's action will come later today in a Field Journal entry from lead pilot Joe, but in the meantime we can tell you that Brooke eventually did manage to get away with three birds. We watched from the DU observation platform as he disappeared from sight leading the three toward our travel pen set up at stopover #1. As of the moment, (8:50am CST) the word is, that the rest of the Class of 2009 are on the ground; some at the East site, some at the West site, and some at Canfield. The team is re-grouping to check and ensure that all are accounted for and also which birds are where. Date: October 16, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Heather Ray Subject: NUMBER 928 Location: Necedah, WI It is with much sadness that this entry is written. Yesterday morning the very difficult decision was made to pull this little guy from the cohort due to persistent respiratory issues. From the beginning of his short life, number 928 developed breathing trouble. Several rounds of medications were administered but he simply did not respond. The team had hoped things would clear up but recently it became apparent this was not to be and while he did train with the group, he simply could not fly any further than the length of the runway. Once he landed he would peep very loudly and convince his flockmates to return and join him on the runway. There was simply too much scarring in his lungs, making it very difficult for him to breath. Several options were discussed but ultimately the decision was made to euthanize him yesterday. Without a full (and invasive) work-up, the health team was reluctant to ship him anywhere for fear of contaminating others and presently there are no available spaces at any of the zoos for an educational display Whooper. And even if there were an opening, it would have to be a location in the north with very little humidity as he struggled for breath in such conditions. Other contributing factors are that he was low on the genetic totem pole and, unfortunately, a male, which we currently have a surplus of in the population. A DAR release was considered, however, given his condition it was rather doubtful that he'd be able to follow other cranes for the distance needed during migration and his fate would be sealed when left behind by other, stronger birds as he would very likely freeze to death. The health team felt this was the most humane approach... The entire team is sad about this outcome but we have 20 others in the Class of 2009 that are counting on us – whether they realize it or not. Onward and upward. Date: October 15, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: GOING NOWHERE Location: Necedah, WI We woke to a third morning of rain and wind, and as the weatherman said, "If you don't like today's weather, wait a while, it's going to get worse." Dropping temps and freezing rain could be in the offing. Ugh. Obviously, the OM team and the Class of 2009 will once again be going nowhere. The upside, (if there is one) is that everyone is finding time to do a myriad of little odd jobs. Chris is mounting a replacement loudhailer on a trike; Joe is repairing locks on our merchandise storage bins; Richard is replacing a door in one of the motorhomes; and on and on. The 'wait' is also giving crew members time to bring some organization to the chaos that playing 'musical motorhomes' wrought when almost everyone had to shuffle their belongings from their 'summer home/vehicle' into their designated 'migration home/vehicle'. Getting jobs done and getting organized is great. But as the bumper sticker on at least one vehicle in the parking lot here says...."I'd rather be flying." Date: October 15, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: WOW - Disney really Gives a WHOOP! Location: Necedah, WI We had a huge and happy surprise when we picked up our mail last Friday. In it was a letter from Jackie Ogden, Vice President of Disney’s Animal Programs and Environmental Initiatives. Jackie’s letter read:      “With great pleasure I am enclosing a check from Disney’s Animal Programs and Environmental Initiatives in the amount of $10,000, in recognition of your upcoming 10,000 mile celebration!      Our team highly values our partnership with Operation Migration and has great respect for all you have accomplished. We wish you continued success with this year’s young cranes and look forward to their arrival in Florida! With warmest regards,    Jackie Ogden, Ph.D., Vice President, Animal Programs and Environmental Initiatives    Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S." Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and the organizations' wonderful cast members, have been there for Operation Migration and Whooping cranes every year since the start of the Whooping crane reintroduction program. Much of what OM has accomplished has only been possible because of Disney’s ongoing commitment to this project - for which we are immensely grateful. And make no mistake, Disney's support goes well beyond the financial as they enthusiastically contribute human resources, expertise, and hands-on help to various aspects of the project.  In the photo are four Disney cast members with whom OM has been privileged to work. Left to right - Scott Tidmus, Zoological Manager, Disney's Animal Kingdom; Alex McMichael, Manager, Special Events and Media, Disney’s animal Kingdom; Jay Therien, Zoological Manager, Disney's Animal Kingdom; and, Scott Terrell, DVM, Veterinary Pathologist and Operations Manager for Walt Disney World Animal Programs. To Jackie Ogden, Dr. Beth Stevens, and to all the other many good friends we have made in the Disney organization over the years, we deeply appreciate your generosity, and we look forward to both working with you and seeing you again in the not to distant future. Date: October 14, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: WEATHER ALL TOO OBVIOUS Location: Necedah, WI No need to visit the weather forecasting websites, or even look out the window of our trailers and motorhomes this morning. The sound of rain beating a tattoo on the roof told the tale, and that and high winds sealed our fate for today. The system that was to the west of us has finally arrived, and if it hangs around as long as currently predicted, we could have light to heavy precipitation straight through until Saturday. While we won't be in the air today, you can still watch the Class of 2009 via our CraneCam - which has been moved from the Canfield site to the East pensite. Click this link to view. Date: October 14, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: TrikeCam OPERATIONAL Location: Necedah, WI The first ever webcam mounted on an ultralight aircraft is now operational. On flydays, OM’s TrikeCam will provide online viewers with never-before-seen live video of Whooping Cranes in flight as they follow our ultralights from migration launch site in Wisconsin to the southern terminus in Florida. OM’s TrikeCam follows in the footsteps of our Duke Energy sponsored CraneCam. The CraneCam began streaming live online video in late July. Since that time, tens of thousands have tuned in to watch the OM ground crew and pilots train with the Class of 2009. Once the 2009 Migration gets underway, online viewers will be able to watch each morning’s departure as we make our way south. [However, keep in mind that connectivity - or lack thereof - at our remote stopover locations will dictate our ability to provide a live video feed.] The CraneCam will also deliver views of the Class of 2009 in their travel pen at the conclusion of each migration flight leg. On completion of the migration, the CraneCam will be set up at Florida’s St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge to provide an unprecedented opportunity to watch the young Whooping cranes as they mature over the winter. The CraneCam will offer viewers a ringside seat to witness their “soft release” into the wild. You can link to the TrikeCam via our CraneCam webpage. Date: October 13, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: GO - - OOPS, NO GO Location: Necedah, WI 32F (26F with the windchill), + partly cloudly skies, + 6mph winds out of the NNW, = a flyable day - at least that's what we thought. The ground crew was all in place, but once again after the pilots launched from the hangar and got over the refuge, they found the air too trashy to fly with the birds. The entire crew has stood down. Now all that remains is to get ready to do it all another day. Hopefully SOON. Date: October 13, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: TWO 'SNOWY' CAMPAIGN UPDATES Location: Necedah, WI While Wisconsin may have seen snow in October before, this is the first year we've experienced it before leaving on migration. This photo was taken yesterday by Craniac and CraneCam Driver Darlene Lambert. Darlene lives in Nekoosa, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Necedah refuge. MileMaker Update: So far, 556 (43%) of 1,285 miles have been sponsored. With Denice Steinmann's 100 mile Challenge Match, (she will match up to 100 miles of MileMaker sponsorships) now is the perfect time to become a MileMaker. Click here to go to the MileMaker page, or call the office toll free 1-800-675-2618. Give a WHOOP! Update: Like MileMaker, we've a long way to go to reach our goal - 7,900 WHOOPS to go in fact. Our hope is to collect 10,000 Whoops – one for each of the 10,000 migration miles we’ve flown with endangered Whooping cranes following our ultralights. It won't be long before we are on our way with the Class of 2009 and ticking off the air miles. The landmark 10,000th mile - the equivalent of flying almost halfway around the world! - will be flown somewhere over Illinois. For just $10 you can Give a WHOOP! and show that YOU care about the future of this magnificent species. Date: October 12, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MOVEMENT - of a sort Location: Necedah, WI We took our resident meteorologist, Chris Gullikson at his word when he told us it appeared we just might have a small window of opportunity to fly this morning before the band of weather carrying snow moved in. With this in mind, camp emptied out as pilots and ground crew left to take up their respective positions for the morning's hoped for activity. The plan was to lead the chicks still at the Canfield site, over to the East site travel pen to join the rest of their classmates. The ground crew was barely in place before they heard the pilots on the radio talking about turning back to the hangar. That small window had disappeared. There was so much turbulence, the pilots knew that the young birds would never be able to manage to stay on the wing. This afternoon, after much discussion in a team meeting, it was decided to crate the birds and transport them to the East pensite. At least they would be all in one place and ready for a departure when ever we do get a flyable day. 10 of the 11 birds at Canfield made the 'road trip' to join their classmates. 928 was also crated, but he was taken to the West pensite for some 'abandonment conditioning'. He will be tended to there by costumed handlers, and will also be given opportunities to flight train, but on his own. Hopefully this will help us to discern if his problem is behavioral or related to his respiratory issue. Will tomorrow will be 'THE' day? The forecast is currently calling for 25F, partly cloudy skies, and light winds out of the north-northwest. If it is 'THE' day, with sunrise is at 7:12 tomorrow morning, it is possible that the the planes and cranes could be in the air shortly thereafter. The Departure Flyover viewing location is at the DU Observation Platform just a short way down Headquarters Road (off Highway 21) on the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Date: October 12, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: CRANIAC KIDS WHOOPING CRANE ACTIVITY BOOK Location: Necedah, WI Operation Migration is delighted to announce the launch of a new, entertaining and educational book for school children. A labor of love that has been more than two years in the making, we were thrilled when sufficient sponsorships were secured to allow it to become a reality. Thanks to the generosity of The Amos Butler Audubon Society, (Indiana) The Hagen Family Foundation, (Florida) and OM supporter Denice Steinmann (Illinois), the Whooping Crane Activity Book is going to press and will be available for distribution by November 1st. Special thanks go to author/illustrator, Vickie Henderson, and to Nan Rudd of Rudd Designs for graphics and layout. Artfully designed to stretch imaginations about the science and story behind saving Whooping cranes from extinction, the Activity Book was produced with the hope of getting young people interested not just in Whooping cranes, but also in wildlife conservation. Why? Because Operation Migration believes young people are our most important audience: It is with the next generation that lies the hope for all the earth’s creatures – including humankind. Teachers and educators are invited to order complimentary copies of OM's Whooping Crane Activity Book for their students. In order to accommodate as many classes/schools as possible, there is a limit of 30 booklets per order and a maximum of 300 per school. (A shipping/handling fee of $10 to be paid at time order is placed.) Teachers/educators - click here to place your order. Or, call toll free 1-800-675-2618. You will need to provide the following information to order: - Teacher/Educator’s name and email address - Name of school and street and shipping address - Contact telephone number - Grade level and number of students in class While we will have a reasonably large quantity available, orders will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Order early to ensure complimentary copies for your students. Shipping will begin November 1st. Also beginning November 1st, individuals may purchase a copy of the Whooping Crane Activity Book via OM’s merchandise page at a cost of $3.00 each (not including shipping). Date: October 11, 2009 - Entry 3 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: FOUND!! Location: Necedah, WI With Bev, Chris, Brian, Brooke, and Geoff on the ground, and Richard back in the air, finally, late this afternoon - success. Once in the area, Richard picked up 910's signal almost immediately and quickly zoned in to his location. The bird was in a clearing in the center of a wooded area to the north and west of the Canfield site. Although Richard tried to coax him into the air, the bird wouldn't follow, so the crew moved in with a crate to box him up and transport him to the pen. Assuming 910 is now in the Canfield pen, that brings the total of birds there to 12. (The other 9 birds in the Class of 2009 are already at the East pensite.) Whew! That's enough excitement for one day. Wonder what our next flyday will bring? Date: October 11, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: And now for the rest of the story… Location: Necedah, WI As Brooke directed Bev and Erin from the air, they tromped and tripped their way through the bush and undergrowth to where 914 had decided to secret herself after being chased off by that area’s resident pair of adult Whoopers. She had a bit of blood showing through her feathers where she had been struck mid-back, but she checked out fine. She was initially frightened when the costumes approached, but time and patience and some reassurance from the vocalizers did the trick. As they walked her back out, helping to direct her through the thick brush, Brooke arrived on the scene. Erin stayed with 914 while Bev and Brooke readied a crate, and it wasn’t long before she was loaded onto the back of the truck for the drive to the East site. Once there she was uncrated and off she went into the pen to join her flockmates. While all this was going on, 903 and 919, which Joe had landed out with at the North site, were being crated up by Geoff, Brian, and Chris. These two birds made the rest of the trip over to the East site in the back of the Tracking Van. With the arrival (by land) of 903, 919, and 914, the East pen now held nine of the Class of 2009. Meanwhile, back at Canfield, there were nine birds that were back in the pen there. 926 was on the runway, and when Erin arrived to help put her away, she discovered 918 – one of the wayward birds – had flown back to the pensite on his own. Between she and Geoff, they managed to coax them both into the pen, bringing the total at that site to 11. If you’re doing the math, 9 + 11 = 20; one bird short. Who’s missing? To answer that question, Brian and Chris walked back to the Canfield pen to check bands, and Erin and Geoff drove to the East pensite to check bands there. When they put their notes together, it turned out that neither of them had 910. This sent Brian and Chris off on the hunt in the Tracking Van. They picked up a strong signal at the north end of the Canfield site and Chris took off on foot to see if he could find him. No luck. And the hunt is still on. Date: October 11, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: How’re we doing so far? Location: Necedah, WI It was a chilly 21F this morning as camp came alive, and one by one, team members trekked across the yard to visit the ‘loo’ and perform their morning ablutions. The wind on the ground was light, registering just 2-4mph out of the west, but the aviation websites were indicating they were stronger than that up top. The plan for today was basically the same as yesterday’s, that being, to try to combine training with the Class of 2009 with leading them to the East pen site where one of our travel pens is set up. Being slightly closer to our Migration Stopover #1, the unfamiliarity of the East site and the different pen can tend to make the birds more attentive to the aircraft and more willing to follow - which will help when we actually depart the refuge on the first migration leg. 928 continues to have respiratory problems, and his ability to manage the migration is a question on everyone’s minds. On training sessions he launches eagerly, but then just flies a short circuit around the pensite, quickly returning to the runway where he calls and calls. His quick return and calling encourages others to do likewise, a hindrance to training. As a result, the plan for today was to leave 928 behind in the pen when the other birds were released. There were about three dozen people braving the cold on the Observation Tower this morning. Once again the Sandhills, Swans, and others put on a visual and audio show for us, and three deer even got into the act as they leapt their way from the treeline down to the water that fronts the tower. For added spice, a pair of adult Whoopers flew in to land in the water just beyond the marsh. (Click the link to view more photos from this morning.) We watched the four trikes zipping around off in the distance, and our cold vigil was eventually rewarded with a flyby. It looked like it was Richard leading six of the chicks from the Canfield site over to the East site. Unfortunately, that’s the sum total of the birds that made that trip today. As we watched, Brooke flew toward us with six or seven on his wing. But despite a couple of attempts, each time they’d approach Rynearson Pond, first one, then two, then more would break off. He would have to swing around with the few remaining on his wing and give chase in order to pick the break-away birds up again. The long and short of it is that the flying part of the day’s activity ended with six birds at the East Site; two at the North site, and nine (including the left behind 928), back in the pen  at Canfield. 6+2+9 = 17 you say? That’s right, we had four birds that went down at various locations. Bev and Erin took off hot on the trail of one of them. Richard pinpointed the spot where he saw another go down. At last word, two of the four were found and once they have been rounded up will likely be crated and taken over to the East site. Meanwhile, back at the Canfield site parking area, the battery had died in the tracking van Brian Clauss drives. I scurried back to camp for jumper cables, then stopped back at the tower to pick Heather up for the run out to Brian’s vehicle. Next came Chris Gullikson’s voice over the radio saying he was heading back to the hangar with a broken foot pedal cable. Heather and I hurried back from Canfield to deliver the truck we were driving back to camp for Chris to use to go out to help track the wayward birds. We then transferred to the white van to head for town and a diesel fill up - it was operating on fumes I think - before going to the hangar. We arrived there just in time to greet Brooke, Joe and Richard who landed and pulled in to the hangar in that order. They quickly got out of their flight gear, bagged their costumes, and the passle of pilots leapt into the red truck to also go out onto the refuge and help track. Heather and I closed up the hangar after them and made our way back to camp to do some 'real' work; she to process some photos, and me to write this entry and get it posted. So, the long and the short of this morning's activity is..... We had the first Crane Rodeo of the migration. We are still tracking down two birds (at least). We’ve got some of the Class of 2009 at three different pensites on the refuge. We had one ground vehicle that needed ‘roadside assistance’. We had one aircraft that had to head for home for ‘minor surgery’. Jack Wrighter, our top cover pilot, is still trying to get here from Tennessee where for the third straight day he's been grounded due to weather. How’re we doing so far? It’s Migration Day #2 and we haven’t gone anywhere yet. Welcome to our world! Date: October 10, 2009 - Entry 2 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: NO DEPARTURE TOMORROW Location: Necedah, WI Brrrr…despite the cold temp, more than a dozen hardy souls were on the Observation Tower this morning in case there was a chance to see flight training. The high winds precluded that happening, but we did get to watch several other species putting on a morning show. The Sandhills were especially active, with group after group flying by and over our heads. Joe responded to a myriad of questions and regaled the small crowd with stories of events past. With a forecast of clear skies, a crisp 22F, and one mph winds out of the west (on the ground) for Sunday, we have hopes of doing flight training tomorrow morning - and - it culminating in leading the Class of 2009 to the East pen site where one of our travel pens has been set up. So, yes – that means the 2009 migration will be postponed at least one more day. Date: October 10, 2009 - Entry 1 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: A Whooper of a Challenge Location: Necedah, WI Craniac, and long time OM supporter, Denice Steinmann of Illinois, has come up with a WhOOper of a challenge. She will match every MileMaker sponsorship of a quarter, half, or one mile (or more) up to…100 miles!!! If you’ve been waiting to do your MileMaker sponsorship there will never be a better time. Denice’s challenge means that the value of your sponsorship will be DOUBLED. So how about it folks? Won’t you take up the challenge and ensure OM can take full advantage of Denice’s fantastic generosity? Please help us get the 21 young Whooping cranes in the Class of 2009 to Florida... Click here to be taken directly to the MileMaker webpage, or call our office toll free at 1-800-675-2618. Date: October 9, 2009 Reporter: Liz Condie Subject: MIGRATION LAUNCH POSTPONED Location: Necedah, WI Today was almost the twelfth consecutive day of no flight training with the Class of 2009. In fact, as a result of poor weather, there have only been a handful of training days throughout the past few weeks. All three Cohorts have been together at the Canfield site for some time, and while they are socialized, until this morning they had not flown as one group. And to say that that was happened this morning, would be considered a bit of a stretch. All the birds were released from the pen together, but getting them all in the air and following was another story. Here a bird, there a bird, everywhere a bird. 928 flew a short circuit but immediately came back to the runway. Hard on his heels was a group of 11 others. Brooke flew in to try and get them to take off again with him and managed to do just that successfully. But continued success was not to be, as the theme for the day was ‘utter chaos’. Richard eventually returned to the runway with most if not all of the birds, and in short order they were all back in the pen. Tomorrow, Saturday, October 10 is our target launch day. As of this evening, the weatherman is calling for mostly cloudy skies, 31F degrees, and 5mph winds straight out of the west. Assuming we have decent flying weather, without doubt there will be trikes and birds in the air. But…. they won’t be heading out to our first migration stopover site. Given this morning’s debacle the crew decided to set up one of our travel pens at the East site. That will be tomorrow’s target; to get the birds to follow the trike(s) just as far as that location. If you were planning to come here to the Necedah refuge in the morning to witness the departure flyover at the DU Observation Platform, travel a little further down Headquarters Road to the Observation Tower instead. With luck, you will still see ‘planes and cranes’ as the pilots try to combine some flight training with a move to another site.   To View Past Field Journals Please Visit our Site Map   Home | Our Work |Get Involved |In the Field Merchandise | Links | Contact Us ©1994-2009 Operation Migration Inc.™ & Operation Migration - USA.™ Not to be reproduced for purposes, public or private without written consent. To obtain consent please visit the Contact Us page.

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