Signs of Spring Everywhere Signs of Spring Everywhere
Today's News Report Your Sightings How to Use Journey North Search Journey North

Signs of Spring Update: February 26, 2001

Today's Report Includes:

Restless Cranes Grow Fat on the Platte
Have you noticed that days are getting noticeably longer? The Sandhill cranes have, and they are some of the first birds to feel a surge of spring restlessness. By Valentine's Day, migrants that had wintered in New Mexico and other southern areas appear along the Platte River in Nebraska. In this critical resting place, each pair spends three or four weeks building up body fat and hormones before completing their long migration and starting to nest. Some of them will migrate through central Nebraska, fly up to far northwestern Alaska, and cross the Bering Strait into Siberia! The fat they put on in Nebraska is the fuel that will power their flight over those long miles. After a day of pigging out on the leftovers from last year's corn harvest in fields and meadows, they retreat to the river every evening to sleep standing close together in shallow water and on the sandbars. The river is shallow enough for them to stand in while deep enough to discourage most predators.
The cranes--about 80-90% of all the Sandhill Cranes in the mid-continent population--stop at the short stretch of the Platte River between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska. Bill Taddicken, assistant manager of the National Audubon Society's Lillian Annette Rowe Sanctuary, told Journey North he first noticed cranes on February 9 or 10. By the 19th, there were fewer than 500 along the river, but every day Bill sees more than the day before. About 500,000 cranes descend on this short stretch of river every spring. Some leave before others arrive, and the peak number present at one time is about 350,000! So many cranes in a small area makes for terrific crane watching! Pull out a map and see if you can answer:

Challenge Question #6
"What is the length of the Platte River in the stretch between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska?"

(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Operation Migration: Will Sandhills Fly Away Back Home?
Courtesy
Operation Migration
You may have seen the film "Fly Away Home," where geese learned their migration route by following an ultralight airplane instead of their parents. Now Sandhill Cranes are helping scientists develop successful rearing and migration techniques to use with endangered whooping cranes. On October 3, 2000, 13 Sandhill Cranes followed an ultralight plane in Operation Migration, an exciting migration experiment co-founded by Bill Lishman and Joe Duff. This migration ended successfully when two ultralights landed at the St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Refuge in Florida with 11 cranes on the 11th day of the 11th month; Veterans Day in the United States, Remembrance Day in Canada. As soon as government approval is gained, crane experts will use the information gathered to show the same migratory route to the world's first reintroduced flock of migratory Whooping Cranes. Team Leader Joe Duff and Lead Pilot Bill Lishman predicted the 1065-mile trip would take 32 days, but at day 17 they weren't even halfway. Why? What happened when one of their cranes dropped out to join a wild flock of Sandhill Cranes along the way? What was the toughest part of the whole project? Watch for these history-making cranes in the news this spring to see if they will fly away back home to Wisconsin, all on their own. Now read highlights from the Operation Migration Journal here:

Then come back and answer:

Challenge Question #7
"Why was such extreme care taken to keep the Operation Migration route a secret?"

(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)

High Wire Hazards
Journey North's Laura Erickson visited Nebraska to observe the crane migration in early March 1996 and won't forget what she saw. Below-zero temperatures, high winds, and huge chunks of ice in the river made conditions very dangerous for the cranes. Worst of all, biologists had found at least 17 dead cranes under the power lines that cross the river in several places. For some reason, birds have a very difficult time seeing wires, and with the high winds were having problems enough controlling their flight.
While Laura was there, people at the Rowe Sanctuary told her they were trying to raise money to put special little devices called Bird Flight Diverters (BFDs) on the wires. BFDs are small, simple coils, but when placed every 2 meters along a wire somehow help the cranes to notice the wires before bonking into them. The BFDs are inexpensive, but the Sanctuary needed to raise thousands of dollars because power company crews had to use a lot of equipment and people to actually put them on the wires. They finished the job in fall 2000, so this will be the first "wire-safe" migration since the power lines were built. Let's hope for smoother sailing for the cranes!

Challenge Question #8
"Why do you think cranes have difficulties seeing wires? How do you think little coils help solve the problem?"

(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Shakin' Snakes and Dancing
Laura Erickson just spent five days in central Florida, where Sandhill Cranes live year-round. In one neighborhood in a city called Lake Placid, cranes walk through people's backyards, and even come to bird feeders filled with cracked corn! Laura watched one crane pick up a snake, shake and toss it, pick it up again, shake and toss it again, and again, until the snake was dead. The crane didn't eat it, but threw the dead snake in a little pond. Laura was too far away to see what species the snake was, but talked to some people who had seen a coral snake in the area the day before. Do you think the cranes suspected that this snake could be poisonous?
Cranes in Florida nest earlier than those going to Canada and the northern states. Every crane Laura saw was with its mate, and sometimes pairs were dancing. As cranes become more interested in romance, they start their courtship dance. Each pair spreads its wings and jumps and leaps into the air in a beautiful display that helps cement their pair bond.

Who's Who?
Photo Courtesy Laura Erickson
This pair of Sandhill Cranes of crossed several backyards to reach this park in Lake Placid, Florida. They come to this spot every day to eat cracked corn that a woman scatters on the sidewalk just for them!

Challenge Question #9
"Which crane do you think is the male and which is the female?" (You can't tell for sure, but the photo does give a couple of hints.)

(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Don't Be Fooled: Answer to Challenge Question #3
Last time we asked: "Which butterfly is the Viceroy and which is the Monarch? Which bird is The Common Loon and which is the Double-crested Cormorant?"
  • The Viceroy is #15
  • #13 is a female Monarch and #14 is a male Monarch
  • The Common Loon is #17
  • The Double-crested Cormorant is #19


Name That Tune: Response to Challenge Question #4
This challenge question asked: "Can you identify the sound of a robin singing? A Spring Peeper peeping? How about a Whooping Crane calling?"
  • The singing robin is number 30
  • The peeping Spring Peeper is 29
  • The calling Whooping Crane is 25

SOS Creature Quiz: Practice Makes Perfect
But how did you do on all the others? Remember that practice makes perfect! You can see ALL the SOS Creature Quiz answers here:

Do you want to give it a try again? You can revisit the Signs of Spring Creature Quiz:

Reminder: Ice-Out Contest is CQ #5
Have you sent us your predictions for Challenge Question #5?
"When do you predict ice-out will occur this year on Thoreau's Walden Pond?" (Please give an exact date, rather than a range of dates.)

(To answer this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Please Report "Signs of Spring" From Your Part of the World!
Remember to share your sightings of first frogs, earthworms, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, emerging leaves, flowing sap, melting ice and other spring events.
  1. Report your "Signs of Spring" sightings to Journey North.
    Come to the Journey North Web site to report your sightings.
  2. Look for the "owl" button on every page. Just click the button and fill out the Field Report form that appears.

Your observations will be incorporated into "Signs of Spring" updates. Thanks for sharing!

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org
2. IMPORTANT: In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 6 (or #7 or #8 or #9)
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to the question above.

The Next Signs of Spring Update Will be Posted on March 12, 2001

Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form

Today's News Today's News Report Your Sightings How to Use Journey North Search Journey North