Date: 04/04/2009

Number: 1

This afternoon, at approximately 3:30 P.M. we sighted close to 200 whooping cranes gaining altitude on thermals, over Azle, Texas, just west of Fort Worth, near Eagle Mountain Lake. It was a beautiful sight to see. Our church was having a picnic at Central Park in Azle, and many of us observed this lovely sighting. At times, we could plainly see the black tips of their wings, then the white wings would glide up like bright white paper airplanes! How lovely! We calculated that they were drifting in a Northwestern direction. It was 82 degrees near the ground at the time, with a strong Southeastern wind. Gusts were near 30 mph. We expect a cold front from the NW this evening. Our hope is that they have found rest for the night near Lake Bridgeport.

Editor's Note: There are two clues that these birds were not whooping cranes: 1) Whooping cranes migrate in small family groups typically no larger than a half dozen birds. 2) Another clue is the 200 birds. There are only 250 in total in the western flock.

azle, TX

Latitude: 32.9 Longitude: -97.5

Observed by: Toni
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