Windy
Sunday on the Ground (+0
Miles)
November 16, 2008: Migration Day 31
 |
Photo Heather Ray, Operation Migration |
 |
Photo Heather Ray. Operation Migration |
Joe launched in his trike to test the wind conditions. It took him 3 minutes to climb to a thousand feet and about 20 seconds to know it was too rough to fly the birds to LaSalle County today. Liz reported, "Even from the ground we could see him rocking and rolling as he fought the wind to return to the runway." It took 7 minutes to return! Alas, down-day six in Winnebago County.
That's
when Heather and John pulled on
their
rubber
boots
and
white
costumes to walk the half mile to the travel pen
and check on the crane-kids. Heather's report: "It's always
a quiet walk out to the pen and I love that moment when — just
as we crest the small
knoll
that
hides the pen from view — we see 14 tawny heads positioned
as high as they possibly can in hopes of catching a glimpse of the
costumes coming. After shutting off the electric fence, we entered
the pen to check the water buckets and feed containers.
This morning
we had to remove a thick layer of ice in each water bucket before
we could add fresh water. After I kicked the ice with the heel of
my boot to break
it, the birds had fun trying to pick up the slippery pieces of ice.
John refilled the water containers and I filled uptheir supply
of crane chow.
"It has rained a lot since we arrived here last Monday
so there's about 5 inches of goopy black
mud
that the birds love to probe. It amazes me how they
stay so clean, especially when it took only 20
minutes in the pen before John and I were both covered
in mud. Just before leaving we
split another pumpkin for the birds to carve up so they should be
busy for most of the day. If they
run out of pumpkin they can have fun trying to catch the fat snowflakes
that are now falling."
Sunday today; no Classroom Activities.
Journey
North is pleased to feature this educational adventure presented in
cooperation with the Whooping
Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). © 1997 – 2019 Journey North. All rights reserved.
