November 6, 2003 Day 22 Standing Down Again Flight and ground crew--all except for Paula and Don. Photo WCEP. Still at the Morgan County stopover in Indiana, everyone's hunkered down for another day. At sunrise, the ceiling was 500 feet but expected to open to 6000 by mid-morning. This rainy morning, half the team came out to meet, while the other half chose to stay in their beds. Top cover pilot Paula bravely assured them that conditions were supposed to improve by 11 a.m. and by then, good tailwinds were expected too. But it didn't happen, so you know what that means! Among the Sandhills, can you spot Crane #6 from HY 2001? More "Ultra-cranes" among Necedah Sandhill cranes Nov. 4. Other Whooper News Guess who's back? Crane #6 from Hatch Year 2001, who has not been seen or tracked since May 10, showed up at Necedah NWR this week. It appears that he's been fairly close to the Refuge since at least September 15! Here are the previous ultralight-led Whoopers, mixing this week with Sandhill cranes at Necedah until they decide it's time to head south. Meanwhile, at Aransas NWR in Texas, only 9 cranes have arrived since the last flight on October 29th. There are 58 present now. Migration weather hasn't been so great there, either! Tom Stehn reports from Aransas: "Saskatchewan had a strong cold front that brought snow on October 29th with 2 sightings recorded that day in Canada. This storm presumably pushed most of the remaining cranes south into the U.S. The northern Great Plains experienced cold weather and snow in the Dakotas, with cranes presumably migrating across North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma during the past week. Texas has had some of the warmest weather in the nation. A weak low pressure system has moved south from Oklahoma into central Texas and is forecast to reach the Texas coast on November 7th. I estimate that cranes are stacked up behind this front and expect numerous birds to complete the migration in the coming week. Five whooping cranes were reported in flight on November 5th near Amarillo, Texas." Try This! Journaling Question With the distance stalled at 391.3 miles gone, what's the average distance traveled per day since this migration started? How does this number compare with the average you calculated in your journal on November 3? How do you explain the difference? Journey North is pleased to feature this educational adventure made possible by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership (WCEP). Copyright 2003-2004 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form