Today's Report Includes:

• Chick Chat: Departure Up in the Air

• Journaling: Wait or Go?

• Crane Quiz #6: Whose Plane?

• Booklet: "Meet the New Eastern flock"

• News Summaries: On Fridays (by E-mail)

The travel pen is bleached, scrubbed, loaded and ready for the first stop. Chris, Joe, and Brooke work on their trikes in a busy, buzzing hangar. Megan paints a new handcart for hauling food and water on migration. But weather conditions combined with few training days for the 17 birds together kept the migration from leaving on target date Oct. 10.

The team decided that these birds need at least one good training flight before they get moved off the refuge. A high-pressure system moving in means better weather this weekend. It's a chance to train the birds and build their endurance. “If it all works,” says Joe, “we will begin the migration on the first good day after that.” Cross your fingers, and stay tuned!

The latest departure was October 17 and the birds have a long way to go. “Number 735 is the latest-hatched bird we have ever worked with so we have to be patient,” says Joe. “She may be a little young to keep up with her older flock-mates, but we will see. Some of us think we should postpone departure for a few days to get in some more training, while others are anxious to get started. . . There is a lot of expertise on this team, and we try to reach a consensus on everything that has to do with the birds.”

Journal Question:
How would you advise the team? When did you need to come to an agreement with others (reach consensus) on a difficult question?

When migration starts, you’ll see lots of photos of the ultralight planes (also called trikes). Each trike is identified by big black letters on the side. What do the letters mean? Find out, and then test yourself with this week’s quiz. See:

• Who's Flying These Ultralights? >>

Click to enlarge. What letters are on the side of the trike? Who is the pilot?
Photo Operation Migration

You’ve met the chicks, the team. But who are the older birds (the ultralight graduates) in the new Eastern flock? The pilots say the birds remind them of people they know; they include braves and bullies, rebels and sweeties, heroes and cranks. Meet some of these birds in the final booklet in our pre-migration series. It comes in PDF format to print, fold, and enjoy. (Teacher Guide with lesson links, too!)

• "Meet the New Eastern Flock" (Downloadable kids' booklet). pdf >>
• Web slide show version >>
  

Weekly Summaries are posted (by email) to registered participants on FRIDAYS: Sep 7, 14, 21, 28; Oct 5, 12, 19, 26; Nov. 2, 9, 16 . . . or until this year's newest Eastern flock chicks reach their winter home in Florida!

When migration begins, the Friday e-mails will summarize the DAILY Highlight Updates that were posted on the Web during the week. You'll want to go to the Web for the latest maps, facts, photos and fun as Migration 2007 begins!