June 10, 2002 Necedah Gets Ready for the Whooper Chicks Photos WCEP Inside New Pen at Necedah, Site 4 View from Outside the Pen After they leave Patuxent, the flock will spend the next 3-4 months at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. Here they will grow bigger and stronger. They will grow their flight feathers and start to fly. They will learn to follow behind their ultralight "parent." In early October, they must be ready to take off on their very first migration. This year's chicks were hatched many days apart. At Necedah NWF, they will be separated into three groups based on their ages for their training to fly with the trike (another name for ultralight plane), The staff and volunteers at Necedah worked hard to get ready for the chicks' arrival. They built an additional pen and training site for this year's larger flock. Last year, volunteer helpers from Friends of Necedah and Wild Birds Unlimited built a new blind, giving biologists and reporters a "secret" silent place to watch the birds during training and preparation for migration. Members of the general public are welcome to view crane activity through binoculars from an observation tower on the refuge grounds. People in Wisconsin are proud of their role in helping to bring back whoopers to the East. They are eager to welcome the HY2002 chicks and help train them! Bunker-like blind at Necedah NWR Photo WCEP Try This! Journaling Questions What is the age range of the HY2002 flock? (Look at the chart (URL below) to find all hatch dates. The age range is the number of days between the first hatching and the final hatching.) Which chicks are the same ages? What are some reasons why the project leaders pay close attention to the age range of the chicks? Meet the Eastern Flock: Second Year (HY2002) Why do you think that the support of volunteers, donors, conservation groups and private citizens are all so important to the success of the whooping crane reintroduction project? Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form