October 26, 2001
Day 10


A Loss — And Going Nowhere Today

For the fourth day in a row, the cranes and planes are hunkered down at Green County Wisconsin because of high winds — and the death of one crane.

Late Wednesday night, gusty winds toppled the overnight pen and all birds escaped. The crew donned costumes and used recorded crane calls to search for the missing birds. Three other trackers used radio tracking equipment to help find the wandering cranes. Shortly after 2 a.m. yesterday, all but one bird had been found and returned to the restored holding pen. The eighth bird was located by mid-morning yesterday. It was Number 3, found dead beneath a power line. She was quite likely killed by a collision with the line. Joe Duff's log entry for October 24 seemed to sum up the week: "All we are missing is an earthquake, a tidal wave and anything that remotely resembles luck." This is an experiment, with good harbingers for success; still, these kinds of losses are always a possibility and the migration will go on. (Joe later wrote this Field Report, decribing the efforts and events.)

Before the migration, Joe told Journey North why he thinks the migration is important. Hear Joe's thoughts:

Audio Clip
(.wav format, 538 K/.aif format, 538 K)



Try This! Journaling Question
  • If you could tell the crew one thing today, what would it be? Why?

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Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP).

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