October 18, 2005
Migration Day 5

See how close the cranes fly?
Photo Heather Ray

More Progress, and an Injury

The weather was good to go! Brooke Pennypacker took off with 19 cranes at 7:57 AM. (Chick #510 was slow to come out of the pen, and Richard picked him up.) But soon trouble struck. Crane #516 got caught in the wires on top of  Brooke's ultralight. Brooke made an emergency landing with #516 in a cow pasture. The other pilots zoomed in to take over leading the flock. Brooke examined #516 and felt the bird was well enough to keep flying despite a scraped leg. They took off, but #516 lagged behind. Brooke landed again in another field. Before long, something spooked #516 and he flew off. Brooke took to the air and led #516 to a harvested soybean field. Charlie caught up to Brooke and #516 resting in this field. They put the bird in a crate and Charlie drove him to today's landing site in Green County, WI. The crane-kids knocked another 46.1 miles off their trip. Feel better, #516!


Track the Migration

Use our map or make your own with this migration data.

(Click map to enlarge.)


Keep a Migration Journal

Today's Question: All 20 cranes survived another day, but #516 had a close call today. How might this affect his attitude? His flying ability? His loyalty to the aircraft? After reading more about #516, write your predictions. Think about a time when you had a close call with danger. What did you learn?

Migration Math: With today's 46.1 miles, how far have the cranes gone in their 1225-mile journey? How far left to go?

Record Keeping: You may wish to record #516's brush with survival on your migration comparison chart.

 

Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure presented in cooperation with the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).