| Meet
the 2008 Whooping Crane Chicks! Hatch-year 2008 of the Eastern Flock |
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| Crane
# 818 |
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| Date Hatched |
May 31 , 2008 |
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| Gender |
Female |
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Egg Source: ICF |
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Permanent
(Attached after reaching Chass)
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Personality and Training:
Notes
from the captive breeding "hatchery" at Patuxent WRC in Maryland:
Nicknamed "Mouse" for
her tendency to scurry about. Never seems to walk at a steady pace,
but instead skitters to and fro like a mouse. Among the chicks that
will form Cohort Two, #818 was paired up with 816 to begin trike training.
Bev calls #818 the class class go-getter.
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Photo
Brian Clauss, Patuxent
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Notes
from "flight school in Wisconsin:
Arrived at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge July 9 in cohort 2,
the middle group in age in the Class of 2008. She
was already flying by Aug. 12, and Bev said she became a little better behaved. "Once
out of the pen, she would almost always '‘do a runner' into the marsh.
At the last training session though, instead of running into the marsh, she
just flew there right over the swamp monster's head.” On Aug. 15 pilot
Richard told a good one: “At the end of the training session the chicks
gathered around the trike for treats. The puppet was doling out grapes and
a grape bounced off 818's head. She didn't seem to mind and promptly ate
it, glad for the well-deserved attention.” But she was still, as Bev
said, "our little swamp lover.” She weighed 5.2 kg at the pre-migration
health check.
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July
in Wisconsin.
Photo Operation Migration |
October 28, Day 12: The "little swamp-lover" is proving to be a great migrator, fying strongly and following willingly each time they take off.
Photo Operation Migration
November 6, Day 21: Heather reports, "818 pecked out the right eye of my puppet last night at roost check. She's still living up to her old nickname "Mouse," as she'll grab a piece of pumpkin and scurry off with it to ensure nobody else has a chanceto take it from her."
Photo Heather Ray, Operation Migration
November 21, Day 36: Crane #818 and 12 others flew with Brooke over the Twin Groves wind farm with no problems at 2,000 feet altitude. They flew 114 miles! Today's lead pilot Brooke summed it up: "I don’t know if it was my imagination or what, but I swear our birds looked as proud of themselves as we were of them. They had been in the air 2 hours and 20 minutes, withstood teen temperatures the whole flight, and performed beyond our greatest expectations."
Photo Joe Duff, Operation Migration
January 23, 2009, Day 88: Migration complete for the "Chass 7" of #803, 804, 814, 818, 819, 824 and 827! SEE PHOTOS >>
