Arrival in Wisconsin Photo Bev Paulan, Operation Migration

Notes of Flight School in Wisconsin:
She was flown to Wisconsin with Cohort #3 chicks on July 10. Their first training session as a group was July 15 and 925 did beautifully. All of the chicks followed the trike and paid no attention to one another. Chick 925 made good progress as the days passed. She came out of the pen, followed the ultralight eagerly, and gobbled up treats when they reached the end of the runway. They weren't flying yet but the end of July, but making progress. Go, Cohort 3! By mid August, all of cohort 3, with the exception of 931, were starting to fly in ground effect.

#925 (yellow band) runs behind the ultralight on the verge of getting airborne!

Erin calls #925 a great little bird, and very curious. She soon became a good flier and good follower. She is very submissive. On health check day in September, Erin tells how #925 charmed her: I was in the pen on the side with the birds who had not yet had their health checks. Chick #925 was standing by me as I absent-mindedly dangled the sleeve of my costume, swinging it slowly back and forth like a clock pendulum. I soon noticed that curious #925 was watching and her head was swinging back and forth in perfect timing with my sleeve, like she was being hypnotized. I was glad when Bev looked our way and saw it too, and we later had a good laugh over it.

Female #925 is submissive within her cohort. After the Cohort 2 and 3 birds were joined in to one group, #925 and #914 (also submissive in her cohort), had staredowns with each other. It's as if these two submissive females were arguing about who is the most submissive!

First Migration South: Chick #925 (and 14 others!) turned back to Necedah NWR when the Class of 2009 left on their first migration on October 16, 2009. Chicks 925 and 905 both landed back at one of the old pens on Necedah NWR. In a surprise move when the winds calmed in late afternoon, pilots Richard and Chris tried to get these two birds to follow the ultralights to join up with other chicks who had landed at a second old pen site on Necedah. The two birds did so well that the pilots kept going—all the way to the migration's first stopover site. Cranes #925 and 905 finished the day with the other five flockmates that made it to stop #1 earlier in the day.Find day-by-day news about the flock's migration and read more about #925 below.

Oct. 27: Crane 925 dropped out of the flight to Stopover #2 and landed in a cornfield. She was "lost" until searchers on land and in the air located her. They lured her into a crate and she finished this leg of the journey in the van. Nov. 1: Hooray! 925 (and ALL the others!) flew the distance to Stopover #3. No crates needed!

 

Last updated: 11/02/09