Photo: Operation Migration	Meet the New 2003 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2003 of the Eastern Flock
	Crane # 303
	Date Hatched	4/22/03
	Gender	Female
	Date Arrived in Wisconsin	6/19/03
	Permanent Leg Bands	W (left) G/R  (right)
	Read about the naming system, birth place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida and leg-band codes.

History:
Spring 2004: Began first migration north at 9:33 a.m. March 30, 2004 in a group of eight 2003 flock mates (301, 303, 305, 309, 312, 316, 318, 319.). (Follow the group's progress in the entry for #301. Note that she did leave with the other 7 on April 7, and when they returned she flew less than a minute with them before they all landed and remained for the night. Could #303 be the crane that hit the powerline when the group was harassed at the April 3 stopover site?) On April 9 the group separated south of Celina, Ohio. Birds 303, 312 & 16 retreated eastward, toward the location they had just left. They continued past the Auglaize County site, heading northeast. On April 11 Cranes 303, 312 & 316 were observed feeding in a cornfield in west-central Ohio. They remained until April 24, when the three headed north. On April 25th they continued northwest and encountered Lake Michigan on an unfamiliar side at exactly the same point that the group of five had two weeks earlier .Cranes 303, 312 & 316 remained together in Michigan but finally figured out how to get around the huge obstacle of Lake Michigan. They arrived in central Wisconsin on July 26 and were discovered near Necedah National Wildlife Refuge on July 28, completing their interrupted migration!
Fall 2004: Cranes 303, 312 and 316 left Necedah Nov. 20 and flew to Jefferson Cty., WI. On Nov 22 they were in Cook County, IL. Stayed in LaPorte County, Indiana from Nov. 22 until resuming migration on Dec. 18-20. They roosted in or near Fairfield County, South Carolina, on Dec. 22nd, then moved to Marion County, FL. for several days. They arrived at the Chassahowitzka pen site at midday on Jan. 2nd, roosting that night near the constructed oyster bar in the pen. They were the first HY2003 whooping cranes to return to the Chassahowitzka pen site after fall migration. Spent much of the winter on a horse farm in central FL. Spring 2005: #303, 312 and 316 departed on migration from Marion County, FL on March 20. Will they go back to MI or WI? PTT readings for 312 showed the group roosted in southern Indiana--on the correct migration route--on March 20! The three were reported back in Necedah area March 30. In April she apparently joined #307 and began hanging out with him. (Her radio transmitter is nonfunctional and she cannot be tracked.)
Fall 2005: Began migration Nov. 17 with #216. They were tracked into northern IL, but their roost site was not determined. No further locations determined until they arrived at their old Florida pen site at Chassahowitzka NWR on December 14 at 2:25 PM! They moved later to a ranch in Pasco County, FL.

Spring 2006: #303 left Florida around March 6 with #216. They spent summer in Wisconsin.

Fall 2006: She began migration Nov. 19 , with #317, made it to NE Illinois that night. They successfully migrated to Florida, where they were in Hernando County until Dec. 19 when they left that location. They visited the Chass pen but haven't been seen since they left there on Jan. 28.

Fake egg placed in nest. Photo Richard Urbanek.

Spring 2007: Began migration March 5 (with mate #317 and pair #312 and #316). Confirmed back on Necdedah NWR (with mate #317) during an aerial survey on 23 March. Their arrival date was later set at March 15, according to the refuge's automatic datalogger. They deserted their first nest, but nested again and began incubating around May 14. Because #303 and #317 came from the same parents, they are full siblings — brother and sister. To help ensure genetic diversity among the reintroduced wild flock, experts went to the nest about 3 weeks later to swap the siblings' egg with another egg. The male (#317) was sitting on the nest. Both cranes flushed from the area, and ICF staff quickly made the egg switch. They discovered that the pair's egg was not a good one. After several hours had passed and the adults hadn’t returned to the nest, they swapped the good ICF egg with a plaster fake egg. The egg from ICF is due to hatch very soon. It was brought back to ICF for incubation, where the chick will become part of the DAR (Direct Autumn Release) project.

Fall 2007: Crane Pair #303 and #317 joined up with #216 around Necedah NWR on Nov. 20 and they left together on migration on November 22. The pair (303 and 317) were stilll in Marion County, Indiana, at the end of December.

May 5: failed nest found, good egg collected. Photo ICF

Spring 2008: Female #303 and male #317 left theirterritory in Marion County, Florida, on February 5 or 6 and moved to an undetermined location. They were back on their terrritory at Necedah NWR on March 30. Everyone was thrilled to see the pair incubating on a nest beginning on April 9 or 10. A nest check on May 19 found 1 broken fertile egg and 1 intact fertile egg. The good egg was brought to ICF for incubation.