--0__=09BBFA02DFCA03368f9e8a93df938690918c09BBFA02DFCA0336 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
There are now 42 wild birds in the eastern experimental population of whooping cranes centered around Necedah NWR in central Wisconsin. Twen= ty hatch year birds are in training to follow the ultralight airplanes to their Florida wintering grounds (see Operation Migration website) while= 4 other juveniles birds are scheduled for a soft-release program into sma= ll groups of adults which have already made the round-trip to Florida. Tw= o pairs bred this year in Central Wisconsin but, as is typical of first-y= ear birds, they didn't do well and failed to guard the nest and predators likely stole the egg(s?) in the first day or two after laying. Usually= such birds do better the second time around so we have our fingers cros= sed for next year. The ultralight birds are scheduled to depart Necedah on= 10 October but I suspect weather may delay that for a few days. One bird= circumnavigated the Adirondacks (VT, NY) after losing the way in spring= migration and was last seen in wild country in western NY in early Augu= st. Hopefully he'll show up in migration this fall. Three of the wild birds= are at an undisclosed location in Morrison County, Minnesota since mid-Augu= st. The coming cold weather may cause these birds to start moving around an= d thinking migration. Small groups of whoopers occasionally join staging= Sandhill Cranes as a preliminary to fall migration. Perhaps the Morris= on County birds will join up withsandhills at Sherburne NWR or other stagi= ng site. Adult cranes tend to migrate individually or in small family gro= ups so if you see 15 white birds with black wing tips you've probably spott= ed pelicans or may need to replace those Tascos with a better brand of bin= s. Observers in southeastern and central Minnesota should keep their eyes = open the next few weeks as other birds may wander in from Wisconsin. Report = any sightings to Richard Urbanek, USFWS, at 612/804-0959. The fall ultrali= ght migration can be tracked (once it begins) on www.bringbackthecranes.org= . Bob Russell, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ft. Snelling, MN= --0__=09BBFA02DFCA03368f9e8a93df938690918c09BBFA02DFCA0336 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII Content-Disposition: inline <html><body> <p>There are now 42 wild birds in the eastern experimental population o= f whooping cranes centered around Necedah NWR in central Wisconsin. Tw= enty hatch year birds are in training to follow the ultralight airplane= s to their Florida wintering grounds (see Operation Migration website) = while 4 other juveniles birds are scheduled for a soft-release program = into small groups of adults which have already made the round-trip to F= lorida. Two pairs bred this year in Central Wisconsin but, as is typic= al of first-year birds, they didn't do well and failed to guard the nes= t and predators likely stole the egg(s?) in the first day or two after = laying. Usually such birds do better the second time around so we have= our fingers crossed for next year. The ultralight birds are scheduled= to depart Necedah on 10 October but I suspect weather may delay that f= or a few days. One bird circumnavigated the Adirondacks (VT, NY) afte= r losing the way in spring migration and was last seen in wild country = in western NY in early August. Hopefully he'll show up in migration th= is fall. Three of the wild birds are at an undisclosed location in Morr= ison County, Minnesota since mid-August. The coming cold weather may c= ause these birds to start moving around and thinking migration. Small = groups of whoopers occasionally join staging Sandhill Cranes as a preli= minary to fall migration. Perhaps the Morrison County birds will join = up withsandhills at Sherburne NWR or other staging site. Adult cranes = tend to migrate individually or in small family groups so if you see 15= white birds with black wing tips you've probably spotted pelicans or m= ay need to replace those Tascos with a better brand of bins. Observers= in southeastern and central Minnesota should keep their eyes open the = next few weeks as other birds may wander in from Wisconsin. Report any = sightings to Richard Urbanek, USFWS, at <font size=3D"4" face=3D"Times = New Roman">612/804-0959</font>. The fall ultralight migration can be t= racked (once it begins) on www.bringbackthecranes.org. Bob Russell, US= Fish and Wildlife Service, Ft. Snelling, MN</body></html>= --0__=09BBFA02DFCA03368f9e8a93df938690918c09BBFA02DFCA0336--