Photo: Operation Migration Meet the New 2007 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2007 of the Eastern Flock Crane # 727 Date Hatched May 27, 2007 Gender Female Egg Source: ACRES Louisiana Permanent Leg Bands Weight 09/05/07: 5.5 kilograms Left Leg Right Leg R/W/G R/G Read about the naming system, hatch place in Maryland, release site in Wisconsin, over-wintering site in Florida, and leg-band codes. Personality and History Migration Training: #727 was EXTREMELY aggressive at first. For a time, she attacked anything that moved. Fortunately she later calmed down. She was not a good follower in early training. She came to Wisconsin in cohort 3, the group of 4 youngest chicks that arrived July 18. By July 31 she could fly in ground effect for short distances. That means she's ALMOST flying, trying hard to keep up in leaps and bounds. Chicks #735, #726 and #727 trained together on Aug. 22. Photo OM By mid August, #727 could fly the length of the runway, but seemed to reach a temporary plateau in her progress. She and #726 received off-ground flight training and some exercise for a short time before the cohort's two younger birds were let out of the pen to join them. Then she got better and flew circuits with pal #726. Chick #727 is not afraid to stand up to the two adults (pair 211 and 217) that visit the runway. The adults show aggressive displays, but chicks 727 and pal 733 are bold enough to fly at the adults with necks stretched out and beaks snapping. The adults get out of their way! (The pilots try to get between the aggressors so the birds don't hurt one another.) First Migration South: Chick #727 left Wisconsin for his first migration on October 13th, 2007. She flew the whole first leg of the journey and landed safely at Stopover #1! Find day-by-day news about the flock's migration and read more about #727 below. Oct. 23, Day 11: After 10 days grounded by weather, the birds got to fly today. But 727 was still reluctant about following and dropped out short of Stopover #2. Tracking in his van, Charlie couldn't get a good signal because she'd fly, land, fly again, land again. . .so the pilots flew circles in the area to find her. Joe spotted 727 in a small mowed pasture surrounded on all four sides by forest. (No wonder Charlie couldn’t see her!) "Apparently she had flown down into this clearing in the woods, but didn’t have the energy to take-off and fly back out," said Charlie. He hiked in, crated the bird, and drove her to the stopover site in his van. Oct 25, Day 13: #727 gave up after 10 minutes of flight and landed in a field. Megan found her, boxed her up and drove her to the new stopover site. Oct 28, Day 16: #727 dropped out and was retrieved and boxed up by Megan to finish the trip to Green County by road. Nov. 1, Day 20: This is the first time 727 has competed a leg and not been crated! She flew across the border and into Illinois! Nov. 9, Day 28: Just as they gained enough altitude to fly in smooth air, 727 set her wings and was looking for a place to land. Flying chase behind Richard, Chris gave chase to pick her up, but she landed anyway. As Brian moved in on the ground to capture her, #727 took to the air and flew over the road to land again. So Chris again gave chase when she became airborne once more. Eventually Chris landed and stayed with her. Brian soon had her boxed and loaded into the tracking van for the road trip to the new stopover. Nov. 10, Day 29: She took off with Joe and 15 others for a great flight. But just 10 miles from landing at today's destination, #727 fell back off Joe’s wing. Brooke moved in and she joined with him to finish the flight next to his wing. Dec. 12, Day 61: It was a no-fly day, but a day for exercise. After flying in the misty air and running around in the rain, it was time for the birds to go back into the pen. Thirteen went in, but four were holdouts—including #727. The four would not budge. Just when the costumes thought they got one headed the right direction, the bird would spin away and run back to join the others, like a game of tag in the rain! Dec. 29, Day 68: Crane #727 was the only one that didn’t make the journey over the Cumberland Ridge by air. She was refusing to climb and eventually landed in a nearby woods. Brooke and the ground crew retrieved her from the woods and led her back to the pen. As 727 seemed reluctant to fly, they put her in a crate and drove her to the next destination. Jan. 28, 2008: Migration complete! Spring 2008, First Journey North: On April 1 the last five members (727, 733, 712, 713, and 706) of the Class of 2007 began migration from the release site in Florida. They encountered a thunderstorm in late afternoon, shifted westward, and landed to roost in Leon County, Florida on the first night of their journey north. They continued on April 2 until afternoon showers made them drop out early.  Four of them landed in Stewart County, Georgia. Unfortunately, 727 dropped out in Randolph County, Georgia about 6 miles south from the other four. On April 3 she continued migration but her signal was lost. On Apr. 8 tracker Eva picked up her signal, flying in the from southeast! Eva and Anna tracked #727 to her roosting location that night in Trousdale County, TN. She took off the next morning (Apr. 9) despite clouds and rain. The rain became too much and she landed just 2 hours later in Robertson County, TN. She continued migration April 10 under cloudy skies with a strong tail wind until a large band of thunderstorms eventually grounded her at 3:15. She landed in a flooded cornfield in Sullivan County, Indiana, where she remained at least through April 14. Read tracker Anna Fasoli's detailed description. On May 9-10 she was reported on a pond in Greene County, Indiana. By May 14 she moved to Vermilion County, Illinois, where she remained until May 26. She was next reported at an overnight stop on a golf course in Will County, Illinois, on June 1, and left the following morning. As of August, she is the only 2007 ultralight-led crane that hasn’t yet returned to the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Last updated: 8/26/08 Back to "Meet the Flock 2007"   Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).