Operation Migration's jump off point. The chicks (Whooping Cranes) were hatched in Maryland and took a silent Cessna ride to Necedah in Wisconsin. A silent ride? Yep, these little guys and gals are protected from human imprinting in any form whatsoever. What this means is that no-one is allowed to speak a word in the process of crating, transporting and then unloading them. In Necedah they go through the process of learning to fly behind their surrogate parents, otherwise known as Ultralights - or trikes. In just a matter of days (their original goal was October 10th, but weather has not allowed the opportunity for the three groups to fly together so they are currently in a hold pattern) they will be gliding gracefully off the wingtip headed south on their maiden migration.
Necedah is a beautiful refuge. I was amazed at how quiet and peaceful it was. I spent about two hours on the Observation Tower trail and was rewarded with quite a variety of birds, dragonflys and even a frog about the size of my thumbnail. At the photo blind I was scanning the marsh with my binoculars when I saw a large white bird. ????? I took the binos down and looked, couldn't see anything. But through them I could make out the shapes of two white birds. At this distance, it had to be!!! I was looking at Whooping Cranes. They were too far for even an attempt at a photograph ~ well, let me rephrase that. I did take a photo that has a couple of white spots in it that I proudly say "that's Whoopers!" I know, you wouldn't know that if I didn't tell you but I was there and that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Even at that distance, with just that bit of a glance, I consider myself to be blessed to have even seen them. This set the stage for my second day at Necedah and a tour!
Sunday morning arrives and I am up at 3:30 a.m. ~ I have to be at the refuge at 5:45 a.m. Weather allowing, we are going to go to a bunker and watch the chicks train. 5:15 a.m. finds me sitting in the dark parking lot patiently - excitedly - waiting. A couple of cars pulled in and Caity (our tour guide) came out to greet us. Turns out this is her family - her Grandfather, Mom and Dad, Aunt and Uncle and her boyfriend. Then there's me. Caity advises us that weather is not allowing training this morning so we opt to head out for a sunrise tour of the refuge. As we ride Caity is telling us the history of the refuge, educating us on the wildlife and plantlife to be found there and . . . showing us a pair of Whooping Cranes. OH MY GOSH! Look, right there!!!! And let's take this up a notch (which I didn't think would be possible) but one of this pair is W106. You don't know who W106 is?? Well she is the only wild hatched Whooping Crane in the Eastern flock. This is just taking my breath away. I'm unable to get a photo, even though I am certainly close enough, because you just can't stop and you certainly can't get out of the van. Again, they are protected from human imprint as much as possible for preservation of the species. And that is much more important than me getting a photo, so I smile and enjoy.
Our trip continues with more history and education and can you believe it ~ we saw ANOTHER pair of Whoopers. I saw FOUR WHOOPING CRANES. And for those of you who don't understand how absolutely incredible this is, let me just throw one piece of their history at you. In the 1930's there were 15 Whooping Cranes left. Totally. That's all. In the world. 15 Now there are approximately 266 birds in the western wild flock that migrates between Canada and Texas and, as a result of the dedicated work of Operation Migration and the organizations in the Whooping Eastern Partnership, there are approximately 78 birds in the eastern migratory flock (there are just over 30 birds in Florida which are non-migratory).
If you don't know about Operation Migration I plead with you ~ go to their website www.operationmigration.org and learn about what they have done. If you can, please help this organization. There are so many ways to help. Currently they are running a "Give a Whoop" campaign. This year they will cover their 10,000th mile of Ultralight lead migration and they are asking you to Give a Whoop and contribute $10 to the campaign. You can join Operation Migration and enjoy the many benefits of membership. And/or you can support the migration by sponsoring a mile, half mile or quarter mile of their 1,285 mile journey. Their Change for Cranes is a wonderful fund raiser for schools and Journey North provides tremendous educational opportunities for children to learn more. If you are interested in this, please contact me. If you are in the South Georgia area I will be happy to either help with the fundraiser or speak to the kids about the Whooping Cranes. If you are outside of this area but interested, I will put you in touch with someone who can help you.
Please enjoy a few photos from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.
The photos of the bunker and pen are at a site that was not being used.
And yes, that's me, checking out the "fit" of the Ultralight.
