August 24, 2001 Trying Hard Photo Jim Carpenter, Wild Birds Unlimited Joe and Dan fill us in: "Although our fledglings are only able to fly for a minute or two at a time, we can see that they are desperately trying to follow us. The increasing volume of the engine motivates them and they open their wings to charge down the runway after the departing ultralight. We try to make a tight circle around the pen and land again before they run out of energy. Many of them make the complete circuit with us but some are still too young and drop out as their strength is depleted. They land in the marsh but as soon as they are able, fly to re-join the aircraft on the runway. It is this kind of behaviour that encourages us; it instills the confidence that we can eventually make this work. But the fog eats away at their training time and interferes with their daily exercise, which will increase their strength, so we have begun letting them out to fly on their own when the air is too thick for us to leave the ground." Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form