News Flash! May 3, 2005
Today brought
good news and bad news. The good news is that HY2004 cranes
#402, 403, 415, 416, 417, 419, and 420 completed
their migration to Central Wisconsin! They were detected at noon
in flight in the Necedah NWR area.
It wasn't long before they separated into two groups and they are now
wandering from their home territory in the normal behavior of "teenagers."
The migration of #418 is slowly getting closer, and the most recent PTT
readings (April 28) put him in Fulton County, Indiana.
For daily details of the spring migration for chicks of hatch year 2004,
see:
The bad
news is another death in the flock. Male #106 was found dead on May
3 in a wetland at the edge of a wooded area in Jackson County,
Wisconsin. This male had injured and broken his left leg sometime
between April 12 and 22. Because he was unable to stand on the fractured
leg,
#106 remained secluded in woody cover and was not roosting in water.
The monitoring team was keeping watch through a spotting scope,and
the bird seemed fine except for the leg. The team considered putting
out
supplemental food for him if they could do so without disturbing
#106 or attracting predators. They hoped his leg might heal on its
own, as
this has sometimes happened with other cranes. But it was not to
be. The death of #106 brings the Eastern flock totals to 44 birds:
27 males
and 17 females. If every bird that left Necedah
NWR with the ultralight since 2001 were still with the flock,
total number of birds would be 56. For details in the life story of
#106, see:
The FINAL Crane Migration Update Will Be Posted on May 13, 2005.
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