Whoopers Reach Wintering Grounds – Finally!

January 29, 2010 — Eighty-nine days. That’s 2,136 hours, 128,160 minutes or 7,689,600 seconds. No matter how you look at it, it took a long time to get the 2009 class of young whooping cranes the 1,285 miles from Wisconsin to their wintering grounds in Florida. The group of whoopers and the Operation Migration crew, which included pilots flying light-sport aircraft to teach the migration route to the young birds, left the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin on October 17, and arrived at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge last week. The 2009 trip will go on record as the second longest in the project’s nine-year history, beating out the 2008 migration by one day. Despite poor weather that resulted in many down days, two perfect days allowed the group to finally deliver the birds to their winter home on January 20, Joe Duff writes in the Operation Migration Field Journal. “Thick fog lingered until 9 a.m. and gave us some time to leisurely prepare for the flight,” Duff writes. “When we finally took off the air was surprisingly smooth despite the high sun angle. It was 55 degrees as I lined up a slow approach toward the pen from the east and dropped down close to the ground. “Geoff Tarbox and Erin Harris released the birds for the last time. Erin told me later there were tears in her eyes as she watched them form on the wing and fly away. It only took one circle for them to settle into a slow climb in perfect air.” And then, suddenly, it was over, as the birds quickly made the last 26-mile leg of their journey. “We each deal with the end in our own way,” Duff writes. “I thought about all the work and frustration, the fun and camaraderie, and, the challenges we need to face next season. I felt relief too that we could stop messing with these birds and finally let them be wild.” After passing a final health check, the juvenile whooping cranes were released and are now learning how to live in the wild. Over the next weeks and months costumed intervention and interaction will decrease, and come late March to April, the cranes will initiate their return migration, making their way north on their own.

The young whooping cranes fly over Dunnellon en route to their wintering grounds. Photo credit: Fred Wasti As the lead pilot turned to head to the Halpata-Tastanaki Preserve, the stopover pensite, the birds formed a gorgeous straight line off his wing. Photo credit: Fred Wasti A pilot leads 10 birds over the watching crowd during a flyover. Photo credit: Fred Wasti

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