|
Photo
Operation Migration
|
Day
80! That's a number never before seen on these ultralight-led
migrations. Thanks to poor flight conditions (wind, rain, clouds), it's
another delay in moving ahead to Florida. Today is
day 2 on the ground in Coweta County, Georgia, with 877.2 miles gone.
Richard's
words about the flight
two days ago remind us why caution is more important than haste: "After Chris
and Brooke took off, I launched with 17 chicks for
the short flight to Coweta County. We were met with rough air as
we climbed out. The chicks had a hard time getting on the wing,
but they kept trying, and eventually formed up in a long line off
my left wing. We continued climbing slowly, battling rough air
all the way in search of smooth air that never came. With trike
and
birds being
tossed like rag dolls in the rough air, some of the chicks could
no longer keep up, and about 7 miles into the flight 8 chicks began
to fall behind, eventually to be picked up by Brooke and Chris." And
all landed safely!
In
the Classroom
Today's
Journal Question: The
chicks don't count days. They just follow their "parents"
on days good to fly. How would their first migration south be different
if these chicks had been hatched by parents in the wild? Think of at
least two ways: list one difference in their choices for flight days
and one difference in who teaches them the route.