Migration Highlights
Back to Migration Journal |
|
| Target
date for departure |
October
9 |
| Actual
date for departure |
October
10 |
| Number
of birds at takeoff |
14 |
| Number
of birds surviving fall migration |
13 |
| Date
migration ends |
December 12, 2004 |
| Total
days of fall migration |
64 |
| Number
of actual flight days (progress made) |
21 |
| Number
of no-fly days (grounded or turned back) |
43 |
| Longest
flight |
2
hours 58 minutes (157 miles covered) |
| Total
miles flown |
1204.4
|
| Days
on Wintering Grounds |
107
days* |
| Number
of birds before spring migration |
12 |
| Number
of birds surviving spring migration |
12
|
-
The
flock started with 15 birds but only 13 were delivered to Florida
by the ultralights. (Chick #406 died on Day 63 of the migration;
Chick #418 was left behind due to feather problems, and he
later followed some older ultrawhoopers to find his way.)
-
Chick
#418 was left behind when the ultralights and
his 14 flockmates left on migration. He had problems
with his feathers so wasn't
ready to migrate. Instead,
he became the first young whooper for supplemental
migration: a
chick conditioned behind the ultralight aircraft
but then put with older birds to see if he could
learn
the migration route by following them.
-
Only
7 launched with the trike on Day 1. Others were crated and
trucked to the first stopover site.
-
Day
4 was the first time all 14 birds went the distance by AIR.
-
On
Oct. 24, the two youngest (419 and 420)
and the usual trouble maker, #414, had to be caught,
crated, and driven to the next site when they dropped
out.
-
Morgan
County, IN was the 8th stop and only the 2nd time that the
ground crew didn't have to pick up any dropouts.
-
They
had some long weather delays. The longest
were 7 days in Green County, WI and 7 days in Meigs County,
TN (Hiwassee State Wildlife Area).
-
The
team searched for more than 8 hours before finding
and retrieving
runaway crane #412 on Day
48.
-
The
first air pickup took place Nov. 7, Day 29.
-
An
air drop took place Nov.
8, Day 30, under unusual landing conditions.
-
They skipped
three stops in Georgia in
one day. Flying was good
and they just kept going!
-
Crane
#406 died at
migration stopover 20 (1
day before the migration
ended) due to health problems.
-
They
made 21 stops, including the final one at Chassahowitzka.
-
Total
flying time for the migration was 33 hours and 11 minutes.