In this longest-yet episode of Whooper Happenings, Bev and Brooke talk about the 2008 chicks and the new migration route they worked so hard on, Marty Folk discusses the Kissimmee Prairie birds and loss of all the chicks this season. It has been a tough, dry year so far!

Joe Duff talks about the new migration route and his expectations for the upcoming migration. The new route, which differs greatly from the past years, hopefully will expedite the migration this year, saving time and money. But the changes were not made just for these reasons! You'll hear why they were so important and needed! The route maps show the old migration (on the right) as compared with the newly planned route they will take this fall. Note that Indiana is bypassed, Alabama is bisected and Georgia only has the route to the very southwest of the state.

If you have a question or comment, please e-mail whooperhappenings@earthlink.net . Thanks!

This was the 3rd year that Operation Migration celebrated International Migratory Bird Day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We talked with many of the guests, and shared the enthusiasm we all have for helping to save this endangered bird.

Also we have information about how the Whoopers and Whooping crane chicks are doing.

Do send us a comment or suggestion at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net . Thanks!

Operation Migration

Somehow, it seems that if you are thinking about Whooping cranes and their welfare, you just have to be thinking of ways to better save energy and avoid environmental waste! This is Earth Day 2008 as I post this podcast, and the past 38 years do seem to have run by so fast! I can recall picking up junk along roadsides on Eastern Long Island that first day, along with snapping dozens of photos which were displayed the next day in the high school office window. Being a yearbook student photographer had its advantages… I could avoid working as hard as some others! Heck, it’s not easy holding your 35mm in one hand and soda cans or a rusty chunk of scrap metal in the other!

Brian Johns, the Canada Wildlife Services Whooping Crane Coordinator, talks about the returning birds and his expectations for nesting and chicks this summer. And I spoke with St. Mark’s Refuge Manager, Terry Peacock, who discussed the recent open house about the new winter residents, answering questions for locals and seeking support for this project. They can use your help if you’ll write a note and e-mail it to the guy doing the approval process. It will speed things up, and I’ll post a letter you can use.

IMBD… International Migratory Bird Day, fast approaches. Operation Migration will again be at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, for the 3rd year. More on that later.

Don’t forget… if you have a comment or suggestion, send it to us at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net. Thanks!

Photo - Several Class of 2007 members (#707 bottom corner inset) stopped at a cornfield, spending quality time chillin' and foraging in Illinois. Photos courtesy of Susan Nelson.

If you would like to see a 2-minute video about Operation Migration, just click the arrow... My Odeo Channel (odeo/b92511486b2f9bdd)

It seems like a long winter this year, and even though the birds just arrived at Chass less than 2 months ago, they are getting ready soon to make their first northward migration back to Necedah, WI! Older adults such as #101 are already there, with others heading north right behind him. Route changes for this year's migration are not yet completely firm, but when they are Joe Duff will tell us about them. In this podcast I have the 2 winners from the question I asked last time, and we talk with Sara Zimorski, aviculturist with the International Crane Foundation, who with her team and several USFWS folks headed the Winter Monitoring and Tracking Team, caring for and watching over the birds this year. Sara talks about #703 and the others, and especially gives us some insight as to what we can expect to happen with the youngest bird, #735, whose one wing has kept her from flying and will not make the return migration! But it isn't so bad, as Sara tells us.

Keep abreast of the northward migration of the Whoopers by going to the Operation Migration Field Journal at operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html. Journey North is another great site for migration news at www.learner.org/jnorth/crane/index.html. Important and authoratative resources can be researched about all 15 crane species at the International Crane Foundation's website: www.savingcranes.org.

Write to us at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .

Photo- Nadia Studnicka sporting her new WH t-shirt, with furry friend Emma. Photo-Abby Studnicka.

With the flyover at the Dunnellon, FL airport the morning of January 27th, and the final flight of the chicks to their winter home at Chassahowitzka NWR the following morning, their journey is complete! In just a few months they will get the urge to migrate north, and with luck, weather and timing on their side, we hope all 17 make it back to Necedah! It is always with mixed emotions that each pilot brings in his birds at Chass (they don't land with the birds) and as they pull up and away, even after years of doing this, each has a lump in their throat, knowing the fate of each bird, many they know all too well, now truly rests with nature! As one pilot told me a few years ago, "once you have done all you can do, the birds are free, on their own, and that is what we all want."

We'll chat with Beverly and Brooke in an upcoming podcast; they are caring for the chicks out at Chass, and will soon be back at Patuxent to hatch and raise another batch of baby Whooping cranes, soon to be the Class of 2008!

If you know the one common thing each flyover has the past 3 years at the Dunnellon Airport (other than that's where they were... not the answer I am seeking though!) send me an e-mail with your name, address and preferred t-shirt size. The first 2 correct answers will get Whooper Happenings t-shirts with the iWhooper on them. Send your answer to whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .

Thanks to everyone who shared their comments with me at the flyover, and of course to the entire WCEP project team, especially Operation Migration and a few select members of the International Crane Foundation and Patuxent WRC, whose patience and determination are what really got the Class of 2007 to Florida!

Operation Migration Operation Migration

We knew they'd get here, though some team members weren't always so certain! On Sunday, in spite of very cloudy conditions down towards Orlando, extending almost to Dunnellon, the Operation Migration team made their next to final leg of their 'extended' (what... 96 days now?) migration with the Class of 2007. One more 26 mile leg to bring the chicks to their winter home in Chassahowitzka NWR will complete this record-long migration!

Chris Gullikson told me they had a 'keyhole' in the sky, and the birds and ultralights went through that opening, avoiding much of the moisture-rich cloud cover. You can see in the photos just how it looked, though several hours later the sky was a sunny blue, and looked nothing like you see here!

Beverly Paulan, OM's Field Supervisor, was not with her team, as she headed to her Mom's this week to help her with recovery from an injury. She will be returning very soon,  though Bev says she feels guilty that her fellow workers now have to finish and clean-up without her!  I wouldn't even think about that, Bev! Things happen, and they will get it all tucked away without a second thought I am sure.

The team flew with all but one bird; 16 made the flyover at the Dunnellon Airport Sunday morning, with one bird crated and trucked to the Halpata-Tastanaki Reserve right nearby.

A new podcast is in the works, and after I chat with the pilots and Joe Duff, it will be posted later this week.

All who watched this flyover were amazed and thrilled! Overall, even in spite of the unpredictability of when the birds would make this trip, it appeared that nearly 1,000 people were at the airport to welcome Florida's newest winter residents.

Photo Montage - Mark Chenoweth

With several more migration legs behind them, the Operation Migration team and those accompanying them are exercising their usual care and judgement. Weather being the culprit, they have experienced way too many down days, but they will take advantage of any day where winds and conditions are in their favor. With the 90 day mark behind them, their patience has been tested many times on this migration, but they still won't rush and risk injury or worse to pilots or birds. It's just a matter of flying whenever conditions allow both planes and birds to be aloft in accord with each other.

I talked with Beverly Paulan, Field Supervisor for OM, and she discusses their migration hosts, how well the birds have been flying, and what we can expect as they get to Florida. And as Bev and the whole team would say, they can't make it down here too soon now! But they are working on it and they will be here!

Also, part 2 of my chat with Joe Duff, continued from WH 25.

Join Peggy and me for the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival January 23rd thru the 26th at the Brevard Community College North Campus. Joe Duff will be there speaking on the 25th and 26th, but limited seating (free with festival admission) is first-come, and his presentation ‘Flying With Birds – Saving A Species’ is something you must hear and see! For more info about the festival, where OM will be have an exhibit, go to  http://www.nbbd.com/fly/  .

Hope to see you at the Dunnellon Airport flyover... soon!

photo - OM over Georgia, December 2006. Mark Chenoweth

As the OM team made the last leg of their migration through Southern Indiana, one bird… #733, decided to drop out and go his own way. Many people spent days looking for this guy, but it wasn’t until over 5 days later he was finally located and recovered! His return to the flock represents many hours of hard work, searching, hours in the air for pilots Jack Wrighter and Dave Mattingly in the top cover aircraft and for the ultralight pilots as well. Many hundreds of calls from local spotters and landowners directed searchers to the bird ultimately, who made a triangle it seems back into Southern Indiana, and then into Kentucky. Local media and residents played a major role in assisting the OM team and many others in the bird’s recovery as well.

All this ‘for one bird’ some might ask? Well, in a word… yes! Whooping cranes don’t come easily, and in the wild they rarely happen at all… except for one in Florida and W601 in 2006! Every bird, captive-bred or wild, is a precious resource, with many hours of care and love behind them. Whether from the Whooper parents as in Necedah last summer (2006) or in a semi-dry marsh in Florida this past summer, these birds need protection and the habitat to enable their survival. Their very tenacity and ability to rebound from near extinction entitles them to our concern and more. It is human carelessness and disregard that brought their near demise… we can do no less than safeguard each as best we can now. We owe them that much, and more!

Join Peggy and me for the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival January 23rd thru the 26th at the Brevard Community College North Campus. Joe Duff will be there speaking on the 25th and 26th, but limited seating (free with festival admission) is first-come, and his presentation ‘Flying With Birds – Saving A Species’ is something you must hear and see! For more info about the festival, where OM will be have an exhibit, go to  http://www.nbbd.com/fly/  .

Thanks for listening to WH 26; join us again soon as we hope to meet-up with the team in Hiwassee very soon for their departure there. Hopefully no crane rodeos this year, and the guys get all 17 to fly as one unified flock! Right!

Note: The presentation Joe will give is on 1/25 from 1-2 pm in the auditorium, and Saturday 1/26 also in the auditorium from 10:30 am to 12 noon. This last presentation is a different time than mentioned in the podcast. Thanks!

The OM team was stuck over the holiday in Southern Indiana, though the folks at the Muscatatuck NWR were happy to have them no doubt! Friday morning they were able, with much effort, to escape Southern Indiana and flew a tough flight into Shelby County, KY! Hiwassee, TN is now only days or a week away... we hope! One bird, #733, was playing the 'I'll fly where I want' game, and he took off and left the group Joe was escorting. He was not with the flock later that evening, but a thorough search covering many miles and going back several stops did not locate his transmitter signal. The search continued for several days, as all but one were grounded days. But late in the day Wednesday, a confirmed sighting lead the top cover pilots, Dave Mattingly and Jack Wrighter, to a signal location, and the team moved in and rescued #733! He was making little noises, almost as if to say 'what kept you?' Maybe more likely, 'where am I, anyway?' Being a male, some might say he had no idea where he was and was just trying various flights to find something familiar. But he seemed very happy to see the two handlers (Joe and Brian C.) when they approached him late Wednesday! He was back with his flockmates soon thereafter.

Earlier this year I talked with Joe Duff, and he discussed the work of Operation Migration. This is the first in a 2-part chat with Joe about the history of OM. I also talked with Sara Zimorski, aviculturalist with the ICF about changes we can expect this year with the protocol and safety implementations to safeguard the birds from severe weather such as what happened on February 2nd, killing 17 of the 18 young Whooper chicks at the Chassahowitzka pensite.

Also, Crane Mama Bev Paulan talks about her babies and how she spoils them! The team is not so 'down on down days' as they always have things to do! Ultralight pilot Richard van Heuvelen designed and will be installing the automatic gate release system for the Chass pen, and he discusses this and flying with the young chicks. Richard has flown on every migration since 2002 (he was the director of the ground crew in 2001) and he says he never tires of flying with the birds!

Take a chance and guess the flyover date at the Dunnellon Airport here in Florida.. do so before November 30... just e-mail us at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .

MileMakers are wonderful people, and remembering someone you love by sponsoring a mile, fraction of a mile or however you can is a wonderful way to celebrate their life! Call Operation Migration to make a tax-deductible contribution at 1-800-675-2618.

We plan to hopefully catch the flyover at Hiwassee in Tennessee, and we'll get comments from team members and fans if we do! Join us for WH 26 in a couple weeks! Thanks for listening!

Whooper Happenings is an independent podcast production, in no way connected with Operation Migration. However, we support the work they do and hope you will also!

The OM team is still in Wisconsin (they don't need to be reminded) as of this date (it's Halloween!) but there is hope they might be in Illinois by the weekend! All birds are doing well, but #727 prefers to be boxed (maybe she was a chicken in a previous life?) and trucked so far, and #710 just seems to be testing Beverly's and the team's patience! He must have genetic material along the same lines as #615 did! He loves to thermal and remained behind on several legs so far. Let's hope he stays with the flock, and starts to flight right.

Canadian Wildlife Service's Whooping Crane Coordinator, Brian Johns, talks about the birds leaving Wood Buffalo and what numbers might be expected to arrive soon in Aransas, Texas, their winter home.

We talked with Nathan Hurst and Megan Kennedy, OM's interns this year who have been working with the chicks since they hatched. They love what they are doing, and know they are privilaged to be doing it! I think these 2 have a lot of motivation and it's been great having them as part of the team this year! Also, Dr. John French, Research Director at Patuxent NWR talks about why he has great expectations for the program in spite of increased losses this year.

Pick a date you think the OM team might flyover at the Dunnellon Airport here in Florida (marking the end of their migration for this year!) and you will win a WH t-shirt. Send your guess to whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .

The Operation Migration MileMaker program could really use your support! If you would like to help the birds and the team get to Florida, visit http://operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm . You can also call them at 1-800-675-2618 .

In the photo: Young Whooper chicks in training at the Necedah NWR September 15, 2007. (Mark Chenoweth)

Necedah was great! Peggy and I enjoyed meeting many people up there, and of course the OM team and those from Patuxent. We'll chat with Barb and Brian Clauss who have hatched and raised the Whooper chicks for the WCEP project since the beginning, Dr. Glen Olsen the veterinarian at Patuxent who comments on the chicks and the year looking back, Momma Crane (Bev Paulan) offers some comments, Brooke Pennypacker who knows the chicks as well as anyone on the team and Joe Duff discusses the year and his anticipation of the upcoming migration.

Operation Migration needs MileMaker sponsors, and your support is crucial! Please consider what you might do, and go to http://www.operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm .   You can also call them at 1-800-675-2618 .

Thanks to all, we enjoyed meeting so many in Necedah, and let's all hope and pray that this year's migration begins soon, and the birds all fly well, and most of all... that the weather holds up and speeds their arrival in Florida!

Send us an e-mail and tell us what day the flyover will be this year. This is the flyover in Dunnellon when the birds finally will reach the Halpata-Tastanaki Reserve, which last year was on December 19th. Take a guess... the closest one(s) will receive a Whooper Happenings t-shirt, which is white with the name and crane with the iPod in its beak as above! The closest guess will win without going over the exact date the flyover takes place (Like the 'Price Is Right', but a date not a price in this case.)

Write to us at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .

On February 5th, the Jacksonville Zoo opened their Whooping crane exhibit, as part of their Florida Wildlife section.  This was a sensitive and sad time for craniacs, and a reminder of how the entire flock migrated by Operation Migration would look if they were still with us.  Peggy and I visited the new exhibit and the 2 chicks, Bode and Ohno, on February 7^th.  The male is former DAR chick #29-06, named Bode, and the female is DAR 31-06, named Ohno.  Both were named after 2006 Olympic skaters by their caregivers at the ICF in Wisconsin.  

DAR (Direct Autumn Release) birds are allowed to simply follow other birds… Sandhills and Whoopers, and make their migration from Wisconsin to Florida.  Since a number of these birds have successfully returned on their own since 2004, this program is a success.  However, a number have been predated, and the fear training and their behavior in the wild is a cause for concern, and this is where increased effort and training are being done.  Anytime humans enter the equation where wild parents would normally assume the role, there is always a doubt factor, with the training never a sure thing nor a substitute for real bird parents. 

The photos above were taken on August 7^th, and they show more mature but not yet fully adult Whoopers.  They are getting their red caps, but still maintain sections of cinnamon on their white plumage.  The cinnamon will be gone soon, and the red caps and black moustaches they are getting now will be very obvious.  They are still playful, wary of birds flying overhead, and just as cute as ever.  They are also a bit taller, and will be close to 5 feet or slightly less when grown.  They do occasionally (once during our several hours there) do a unison call when the zoo train comes by, but not always.  My video camera was rolling the second time (I missed the first as I was talking to Donna, their caretaker) but they didn’t feel the urge to call.  They do purr and cavort and occasionally encounter each other; mostly Bode seems to chase his sister around the foliage and their home area.  The birds have their own shelter and are inside each evening, and let out every morning.  In bad weather they also are inside.  On very hot days they spend much time in the shallow pond that runs along the front of their exhibit… prodding, exploring and finding whatever they can. 

This is one of the few experiences (There are 3 places in Florida, and of course at the ICF in Bariboo, WI) one can have where the Whoopers are just feet away from you!  No, you can’t touch them (their caretakers and the zoo would never allow that) but they will look at you and you can get some fabulous photos!   

When I looked at these 2 chicks, I felt a sense of wonderment they express so readily when they look around their world in the exhibit; but I also have to think about the 18 birds that would look like them, and how our world is a lesser place because of their loss.  Few things seem as important, and seldom has there been any resource as irreplaceable as the Class of 2006.  The fate of the Whooping crane is still in doubt, and unless the adult birds already established begin to propagate in the next year or two, their ultimate fate is still questionable.  With so many species like the Yangtze River Dolphin just recently announced as extinct, and others which man had driven into extinction also on the edge of their own demise, nothing is a certainty. 

The people of Operation Migration, the International Crane Foundation, Patuxent NWR and of course all of WCEP (Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership) are working very hard to ensure this day never comes.  But you have to wonder… support for this work is always needed in many forms. 

In a society that values HD television more than endangered species preservation and where Starbucks gets more attention in the news than the demise of a gentle dolphin that was literally poisoned and fished into oblivion, our values seem at best… questionable.  But hope yet remains… whether the thing with feathers or with scales or fur, it can never be replaced, and what God placed here has in some way supported balance in a world that is all too off-scale now.  Global warming won’t go away, but that hot cup of Toffee Nut Latte at Starbucks just might allow you a short moratorium from the really hot days ahead!  Polar Bears who can’t find home on their melting ice flows do seem a long ways from us.   And the sight and sound of a small group of white birds, gently flapping and heading north, may well soon prove too much for a world that prefers convenience and instant gratification to the natural and sublime.  I believe that in our lifetime, things will change, but how is our decision, and time is running out.  We must use whatever time we do have left, wisely and constructively.  Mark

Operation Migration could use your support, as MileMaker sponsors are very much needed and many miles remain open!  You can sponsor in memory of someone or dedicate as you wish.  Visit the OM MileMaker site...  http://www.operationmigration.org/mile_makers.htm

Listen for a new Whooper Happenings in August; your comments are always appreciated at whooperhappenings@earthlink.net .