News Flash! Crane #418 Completes Migration May 16, 2005
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Crane
#418 stops in Washington Park in metro Chicago—not a
very safe place for a whooping crane! |
#418
lands in safe Wisconsin wetlands on May 11—close, but
not quite "home" at Necedah. Photos Marc Monaghan. |
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, summer home of the
Eastern flock. Photo Wayne Kryduba |
The first spring migration for the entire flock of Hatch Year 2004 whooping
crane chicks is finished! Now we can REALLY whoop it up. Crane #418,
who began his northward migration on April 18, completed migration to
Necedah NWR yesterday, May 16. He left his last stop in Dodge County,
WI. After several hours of undirected flight over an area including Necedah
NWR, Valley Junction, and Mill Bluff—and at least three brief landings—#418
finally landed on a pool on the Refuge. He remained there to roost, safely
home at last.
An Historic "First"
Crane #418 was the last to leave Florida and the last to arrive in
Wisconsin. His successful migration is historic. Why? Crane #418
was the first supplemental
release chick in the new Eastern flock; that means he was the first
to be released among the experienced "ultra-cranes" in
hopes he'd follow them (instead of the ultralight plane) to learn
his Wisconsin-to-Florida
migration route. Sure enough, he did. He found his way to Florida by
following experienced whooping and sandhill cranes, but he returned
to the flock's summer home all by himself. Way to go, #418!
For daily details of the spring migration for chicks of Hatch Year
2004, see:
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