Soma
Tools of the Path => Action [Public] => Topic started by: Nichi on November 10, 2010, 05:45:17 AM
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Whooping Crane Cam (http://www.operationmigration.org/crane-cam.html)
I haven't caught one of their flights yet, but Operation Migration films their practice-flights from the ultra-light - it should be very cool!
Today they have a very windy day, and the gang is just hanging out.
Filming is done in CDT.
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Stream not found :(
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Stream not found :(
You would have been trying them at 6:25pm CDT their time, and it's dark then. I'm speculating that that's why it's down... It was "not found" for me too just a few minutes ago when I read yer post.
The first day I pulled it up, it was on the second try. So, I'd say, try again tomorrow. :)
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Poop! Still no stream. Ill try one more time.
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Poop! Still no stream. Ill try one more time.
Darn, I couldn't get them today either. I did have it up for over an hour the other day, and it was great fun watching them. Apparently it's one of those inconsistent ones. :(
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(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc14/crane.jpg)
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They're in the air!
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That is the coolest thing. Amazing about humans that they are engaged in such activity ... and amazing about the Internet that we get a chance to observe it.
At first the wrong camera was filming, but then the camera switched, or the angle switched, and there half the flock was, keeping up with the ultralight. (The ultralight's engine is really loud, so I had to turn off my sound.)
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(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc16/cranes.jpg)
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(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc16/cranes2.jpg)
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If you did get to watch it at all, or if you ever do, you'll see that the crane flying closest to the ultralight is rarely flapping his wings. He's riding on the thermal 'wake' created by the ultralight. The pilots call that position the "sweet spot". :)
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(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1198.snc4/155089_464568398066_540128066_5975601_3967236_n.jpg)
Someone's screenshot... a bit wobbly, but that was the gist of much of the flight.
(Australia.... this would be visible to you anywhere between 11pm and 2:30am your time, if they've flown that day. They'll stand down if the headwinds are bad.
They aren't far from the end of their journey, so might be good to start checking, if you're interested.)
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The Class of 2010
(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc18/crane2010.jpg)
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The Class of 2009 returns in 2010 (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?react=1246908445%3Ade05d9f4f39f5a3d1634ca9191777e6c#!/photo.php?fbid=492696244152&set=a.453514849152.237622.266277869152)
The greatest evidence of the success of the program.
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It is amazing that these people have undertaken such a program.
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It is amazing that these people have undertaken such a program.
Yes! A mad and wild idea on behalf of the creatures, seen through to its end. Gives one hope about our species!
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They've stood down today (and the past 2 days) due to bad winds, but the next flight they make will be their last one. So if you are interested, you might want to check for the time adjustment and calculate for whatever equals 7am CDT in your zone. When they go, they don't necessarily go precisely at "7am" - that's really give or take an hour or so. But be on the lookout starting at that time and keep checking back. This flight they're making is a relatively short one.
All I can tell you is that watching it can make you very happy.
(Warning: the ultralight engine is very loud ... I had to turn my sound off while watching the flight.)
Only 28 miles separate the St. Marks five from their current location in Jefferson County, FL and their new winter home at the St. Marks NWR in Wakulla County. 28 miles seems like a short hop compared to some of the recent flights logged by the young Whooping cranes and their ultralight leaders but weather conditions still need to be ideal.
http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html
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Putting this thread in "action" - don't know why I never thought to do that before.
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http://www.youtube.com/v/NXY9fsK9mNY?fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXY9fsK9mNY&feature=channel
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http://www.youtube.com/v/Prd57DTzqoA?fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prd57DTzqoA&feature=related
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I sat up for an hour last night but aside from a long period of taxiing around on the ground and then shots of beautiful landscape in the morning light, nothing happened. The guy - Brad I think - seemed to have forgotten to turn the camera around, to view behind him. Then it disconnected for so long I just had to get off to bed.
I'll look again Friday night if they are still at it.
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Awww, that's a shame - that happened on a couple of the events I caught too - it took them awhile to get the camera angle right.
I'm checking about more cam adventures for 2010 - they referenced this leg today as the final leg, but in the field notes it says that the mission is "half" accomplished. So I'm confused about what more may be to come.
Here's the Class of 2008, from a different angle completely.
http://www.youtube.com/v/zJW153EXsH8?fs=1
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The last flyover set to "after the New Year".
Date: December 17, 2010 - Entry 3 Reporter: Joe Duff
Subject: SHORT-STOPPING IN GILCHRIST COUNTY Location: Gilchrist Co., FL
Flown Today: 0 Miles Total Miles 1171.9
For the first time in a couple of years, we made it before Christmas.
In 2005, we began short-stopping the birds at the Halpata-Tastanaki Preserve site. The idea was to wait until all of the older cranes, that normally stop in at the pensite in Chassahowitzka on their return migration had a chance to visit. When they found no activity and no free food, they moved on and left the coast clear for us to bring the chicks in. If however, the chicks were already there, that encouraged them to hang around. They would sometime dominate the food and even chase the chicks out of the pen where they were susceptible to predation.
Short-stopping has been the practice until the last few years when we arrived well after Christmas and the majority of older birds had already moved on.
This year we are back to arriving earlier. Maybe it had to do with the better weather, or fewer birds, but either way we are again facing the problem of the older generations. It is hard to believe that I am actually complaining about too many Whooping cranes.
The last edition of Plan B – 248, Variation 6 was to get the birds to the Halpata site and participate in the flyover at the Dunnellon Airport on the way. Then we were going to stand down for the holiday season and wait for the tracking team to give us the all clear. That would happen when the majority of older birds finished their migration and were safely on their preferred wintering sites. Then we would come back and complete the last 28 mile leg to the Chassahowitzka pensite.
Unfortunately, the weather this morning did not cooperate. Low ceilings and light rain kept us on the ground as surely as did the headwinds yesterday. Tomorrow's outlook is dismal. In the long range forecast, there is a very slim possibility for a flight Sunday, and maybe even for Monday if you are an optimist. But, we have been there before. We could wish ourselves all the way to Christmas that way.
So now, the plan is to stand down here in Gilchrist County and wait for the older birds to pass through Chassahowitzka. When we get the go-ahead we will come back in the New Year and lead the chicks, first to Halpata and finally to the refuge pensite. For now, the crew is organizing, packing and readying vehicles for the trip back north.
We are sorry that we could not give you a final flyover before Christmas, but maybe in the new year you will need something to celebrate and you will join us to see the Class of 2010 complete their first migration.
http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html
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Thanks for keeping us up to date - they had nothing last night.
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http://www.operationmigration.org/crane-cam.html
The Last Leg
7am Central - which, as my mind transposes, is
~midnight for New South Wales
~3pm for Estonia and South Africa
~2pm for Sweden and Czech Republic
~8am for Maine and Virginia
~5am Las Vegas, Washington State, Joshua Tree, and British Columbia
Please double-check my figures!
All this is barring bad weather.
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The Class of 2010
(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc23/crames.jpg)
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(http://buriedshiva.com.au/vicky/misc23/cranes.jpg)
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I see their little brains ticking off the landmarks - registering the pathway for the future. So exciting to see humans take a cooperative role in the survival of a species. How we should be on this planet.
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Yep, finally got to see them last night - for awhile anyway till they floated out of camera shot. One was quite close. It is a real thrill when you see them live!
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Yes, for me too!
Just watched the final landing. That large body of water in the distance was the Gulf. Boy, they have dangerous times ahead, between being so close to the Gulf with all the toxins and oil , and taking their chances with insane people shooting at them.
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Humans, that is
Subject: YET ANOTHER LOSS...
Location: Main Office
A 6-year old male whooping crane has been found dead in Cherokee County, Alabama – The victim of gunshot. Crane #12-04 had been wintering in the Weiss Lake area with a number of other Whooping cranes.
Alabama wildlife officials issued a statement yesterday afternoon saying the bird was found on Jan. 28. – Not even a month after the discovery of three dead juvenile Whooping cranes near Albany, Georgia. These three were also shooting victims.
12-04 hatched at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center May 9, 2004 and was transferred to the Necedah NWR in central Wisconsin at the end of June the same year. He and his flockmates trained with our ultralight-aircraft and followed them to the Chassahowitzka NWR in Florida to spend the winter.
This male was officially the first of his Class to return to Necedah the following spring. He continued to migrate successfully each year and in spring 2010 he paired with DAR female 27-05. The two birds nested successfully and hatched a chick, (#W6-10) on June 11. Unfortunately, the chick died at about a week old.
Officials are offering a $6,000 reward for information on the death of #12-04. The reward for information on the death of the three juvenile cranes near Albany currently stands at $20,800.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., is conducting a necropsy on #12-04.
http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html#021011
There is no way to positively spin this.
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(Humans...)
Losing endangered whooping cranes to gunfire 'not acceptable'
By Barbara Behrendt, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, February 11, 2011
CHASSAHOWITZKA — They have survived ferocious winter winds, power lines and even bobcats. Now, the endangered whooping cranes may be facing their biggest obstacle yet.
Bullets.
Over the last year and a half, five cranes meticulously raised and conditioned have been shot and killed along their migratory route, from Wisconsin to Central Florida and other areas of the South.
That means about 5 percent of the estimated 100 whooping cranes in the eastern U.S. have been lost, a devastating blow to the partnership of public and private agencies behind a 10-year initiative to repopulate the species.
"The amount of effort that goes into a program such as this — hatching young, raising them, teaching them to migrate — is absolutely huge," said Tom MacKenzie, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The loss of any of those birds to nonnatural causes is not acceptable."
The latest crane to be found dead was discovered Jan. 28 in Cherokee County, Ala., where some of the birds roost for the winter. It is unclear if any of the five dead birds were shot in the air or on the ground.
The bird found in Alabama was one that learned the route from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge by following ultralight aircraft.
The death was especially difficult for organizers because the bird had nested with a female in the spring and the pair produced a chick, though it did not survive. To date, only three wild chicks from the reintroduction program have survived long enough to begin the migration.
"This is a 6-year-old bird, one of a couple of dozen that are old enough, sexually mature, and could breed," said Liz Condie of Operation Migration, which conducts the ultralight migration.
"This crane had a chick. Could this be any freaking worse?" Condie said.
The mate of that crane was part of a second program in which birds learned the migratory route by following wild whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, rather than ultralights.
Three of those cranes were found shot to death in Calhoun County, Georgia on Dec. 30. Two males and a female, they all were hatched in 2010.
Though rare, this is not the first time the cranes have been shot as they made their way hundreds of miles from Wisconsin to their winter homes in the South.
In November 2009, a crane hatched in 2002 and led south by an ultralight was found shot to death in Vermillion County, Ind.
That crane was characterized as "the most important bird in the entire Eastern migratory population" because she had hatched and raised the first wild whooping crane in the eastern United States in more than a century.
Her offspring, a female, is still part of the roughly 100 whooping cranes comprising the eastern migratory population.
Condie said she does not think hunters are to blame in the bird killings because they generally are more concerned about protecting natural resources.
"There can be no good reason," Condie said. "It's either ignorance or downright callousness."
Organizers of the migratory program are so concerned about the well-being of the cranes that they are raised by handlers who wear crane costumes to help the birds maintain their wariness of humans.
Whooping cranes, the tallest birds in North America at 5 feet, were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s. With human intervention, there are now about 570 whooping cranes with about 400 of those in the wild.
That means each whooping crane is a precious commodity, Condie said.
"Can you place a value on the loss of this bird given the potential it had?" she said. "Either you want to save a species or not."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/gunfire-shatters-effort-to-rebuild-endangered-whooping-crane-population/1150817
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I don't know - it just seems like an omen for our species.
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I don't know - it just seems like an omen for our species.
Definitely!
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Another one ... the world has gone out of its ever-flowering mind!
Date: February 18, 2011 - Entry 2
Reporter: Heather Ray
Subject: SECOND JUVENILE WHOOPING CRANE FOUND DEAD IN ALABAMA Location: Main Office
Reward in Alabama Whooping Crane Deaths now at $23,250
Federal investigators have discovered the remains of a second whooping crane at Weiss Lake on the Alabama-Georgia border.
The second crane, identified as #22-10, a crane released last year in Wisconsin in the company of other older cranes, was found less than a quarter-mile from whooping crane #12-04.
Investigators believe #12-04 was shot sometime before January 28, and consider the deaths linked. Laboratory results are still pending.
A hefty reward now stands at $23,250, a combined total contributed by 18 non-governmental organizations, federal agencies, and private individuals for additional information on the deaths of the two whooping cranes leading to successful prosecution of the perpetrator(s).
“We hope this reward may help generate leads from anyone who may know about these deaths,” said Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge of Law Enforcement in the Service’s Southeast Region. “We are working hard to bring the offender or offenders to justice and greatly appreciate any assistance the public can offer.”
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Sandhill Cranes, who underwent the same sort of revival that the whoopers are seeing, have now been made a legal "game bird" in Minnesota.
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::)
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Sandhill Cranes, who underwent the same sort of revival that the whoopers are seeing, have now been made a legal "game bird" in Minnesota.
And now, the same for Kentucky.
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::)
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There has been a wrench in the works for Operation Migration, who is in the middle of its 2011 migration-class to Florida. They are enroute, currently on the ground in Alabama. During the holiday week, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded them, for a violation I cannot comprehend and cannot write out. Something to do with the flights of ultra-lights.
A huge response and petition was generated on behalf of Operation Migration, including phone calls from "3 state governors and one former president", so the FAA relented and has allowed the 2011 Class to continue and complete its trek.
The words used for the future are that "the FAA will work with Operation Migration to reach a long-term solution", but it sounds to me like it is not a given that OM will be allowed to continue its work unfettered. Which is quite maddening.
The people who are supporting OM are very wise and savvy, and I was struck in the comments that no one was super-critical of the FAA for interfering with the good work which has been in progress for years -- rather, they praised the FAA: they thanked the FAA. They allowed the FAA the opportunity to come off as the good guys. Shrewd and smart move! It worked insofar as the 2011 class goes - I hope it does for the future as well.
The folks who fly the birds in their first trip raise these birds from the egg! They are very committed. And as I've said before, this ongoing project is just one of the best things that humans do in this world. May it continue on!
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The issue appears to be that regulations forbid ultralight pilots from getting a salary -- that ultralights are only supposed to be used for personal use.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/faa-waives-rules-says-paid-pilots-can-guide-whooping-cranes-to-florida-using-bird-like-plane/2012/01/09/gIQA7IYHmP_story.html
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Regulators tend to come up with rules that fit known situations. It can be maddening when one's situation lies outside expectations. Luck they had some high level leverage.
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The way the OM classes work, the cranes are raised as eggs and chicks in Wisconsin, then acclimated to the ultralight, then migrated in pieces until they make their triumphant landing in 2 refuges in Florida. There they winter, and hopefully migrate back home when it's time. The final landing would have happened by now, but due to weather and several weeks' delay imposed by the government, the cranes have begun to behave unpredictably, and will not (as in, they 'refuse' to) follow the ultralight during the last legs of the journey.
So, this year's journey is finished and incomplete, and OM now searches for a safe place for them, in which to winter.
http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html#012912_2
I'm wondering about this recent erratic willfulness on their part: maybe they know something the humans don't.
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With whooping cranes unwilling to continue, annual migration ends in Alabama
By Barbara Behrendt, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, February 3, 2012
CHASSAHOWITZKA — The annual migration of ultralight-led whooping cranes had barely gotten off the ground in October when the problems began.
First it was rain and wind that halted the birds in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.
They would fly for a day, then have a week of downtime.
In December, they finally reached northern Alabama, but were forced out of the sky after the Federal Aviation Administration questioned whether the pilots were in compliance with aviation rules.
With that issue resolved, waves of wintertime storms in the Southeast made it impossible for the ultralights to continue.
The crew of Operation Migration grew frustrated. But in the end, it was the whooping cranes that gave up on the dream of spending the winter as Florida snowbirds.
Apparently satisfied that they had flown far enough, they simply stopped following the ultralights.
So, for the first time in the 11 years that a partnership of organizations and agencies has worked to reintroduce whooping cranes to the eastern United States, the migration was cut short Thursday.
The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership decided that the nine young cranes in this year's misfortune-ridden migration would instead be released in an Alabama wildlife refuge.
In the coming days, the cranes will be crated and driven to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge near Decatur, Ala., about 45 miles from the pen where the birds have been staying in recent days.
The refuge provides the kind of habitat where whooping cranes thrive, including marshes and lakes, said Tom MacKenzie, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Currently, there are seven whooping cranes on the refuge, including five from previous ultralight-led migrations and two that learned the migration route behind other whooping cranes. In addition, 11,000 sandhill cranes used the refuge this winter.
Officials hope the young birds will learn from the older cranes and follow them back north when the migration bug bites in a few months.
The change means no flyover in Dunnellon, on the Citrus-Marion county border, for whooping crane enthusiasts and no crane-tending chores this winter in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles Hernando and Citrus counties.
"There is disappointment, but also understanding about the situation," said Ivan Vicente of the Chassahowitzka refuge, where workers have been preparing for the cranes' arrival. "It just shows you this whole process is one of the most challenging of any of the reintroduction programs."
Officials considered bringing the birds to Florida in crates and hoping they could find their way home to Wisconsin in the spring.
"I think they're doing the right thing and not taking that risk," Vicente said. "That would be one hell of an experiment, but you're playing with the life of an endangered bird."
Even before the whooping cranes hatch, they hear the sound of ultralight aircraft, which will guide them along the Wisconsin-to-Florida migration route their first year.
In previous years, the cranes have wintered at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in the Florida Panhandle and at Chassahowitzka. After learning how to forage and live in the wild, instinct tells them to return north in the spring.
About 100 birds live in the re-established Eastern migratory population.
This year's young cranes have been in northern Alabama since Dec. 11. Even after the FAA granted a waiver and the weather cleared, pilots faced the challenge of regaining the attention of the birds and getting them to follow the ultralights.
They struggled to fly 5 miles one day, then 9 a few days later.
The final attempt came Sunday.
For nearly three hours, pilots led by Joe Duff tried to keep the birds flying off the wings of the ultralights. But they kept turning back.
Finally, Duff concluded the cranes were no longer interested in migrating, so they were returned to their pen in Winston County, Ala.
"Maybe we have stayed too long in Alabama, and for them the migration is over. Or, maybe they were just too long in one place," Duff wrote in Operation Migration's online field journal.
Operation Migration spokeswoman Liz Condie said there could be multiple reasons for the truncated migration.
One could be the unseasonably warm winter.
Many of the whooping cranes that migrate between Canada and Texas each year didn't bother to come to Texas this winter. And in the last count of Eastern migratory whooping cranes, nearly 40 percent never flew south of Indiana. Condie said sandhill cranes in Indiana are already migrating back north.
Maybe Operation Migration's Class of 2011 got the same signal, she said.
"There has to be something in their collective psyche, instinct, genes," Condie said. "You've got to wonder, when they went back to the pen the other day, did they ask one another, 'What's the matter with these people?' "
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That's interesting that other cranes also did not come as far south as they usually do. I think ... they know something.
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They may, but it just be that the weather has altered - the old patterns are no longer valid.
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The OM people are keeping an eye on the Class of 2011 in their 'spontaneous' Alabama wintering home. I'm sure they are holding their breath -
Here is one of the 2011 Chicklets calling it a night to go roost.
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426445_10150639441604153_266277869152_8930259_1582804831_n.jpg)
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Last year, I pretty much took a break from reading too much about the cranes, and from watching the cam. Seemed that everytime I turned around, there were stories from all over the country about the cranes getting shot - never for a discernible reason. The rare times the guilty were caught, their fine/punishment was a travesty of justice. Very disturbing.
I thought to peek in this am, though. The Class of 2013 has 8 members. They're in the phase of training where they learn to follow the trike - the most airborne they've gotten so far is a couple of feet off the ground. Fun to watch, nonetheless.
There has been a little drama the past few days. A couple of 2012 graduates have found their way back to the area, and one of them has been aggressive to the chicks through the fence. Strange position for the workers, who on the one hand must be happy to see them doing so well, but who must also run interference and protect the current class. It was fascinating watching the older ones wander around a bit bewildered, with a knowing that they belonged there, but aware that nothing was the same.
There were also a couple of Sandhills in the area, but they left when the trike showed up.
At any rate, wanted to share that things were getting interesting there. I'm sure that gradually, they will be more and more airborne.
The time to watch the action is between 6am and 8:30am EST, if you're interested. (You'll have to correct for the time difference.)
http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Whoopers-8-6-13-flying-with-Joe1-1024x448.jpg)
(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Whoopers-8-6-13-flying4.jpg)
Photos by Tom Schulz
(They're flying higher now.)
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From this am.
(https://sphotos-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1000318_10151789984709153_1592687898_n.jpg)
They aren't pros yet, but they're trying.
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love that bluish colouring
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love that bluish colouring
This stretch of marsh is privy to morning fog. Training yesterday began a little before the fog had entirely burned off, which accounts for the blue. It is pretty!
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/007-2-1024x767.jpg)
Being fed grapes and mealworms after training.
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/P1110547.jpg)
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This is why it's a thorny, tricky road keeping up with all of this. This legislation is supposed to pass today, even though 888 of the 1073 polled were AGAINST it. That prediction recognizes who is "in power": the devil. A lot of tears are involved, when the predator is humanity itself.
Sandhill Crane Hunting Appears Likely Tennessee
Knoxville, TN (WTVC-TV) - Tennessee moved one step closer to having a hunting season for sandhill cranes Thursday. It was standing room only in a Knoxville conference room as wildlife officials, hunters, wildlife watchers and conservationists from across the state gathered to consider whether or not to hunt sandhill cranes during a 3-year experimental season. The season would only be open in Southeast Tennessee, east of Hwy. 56 and south of I-40.
Six members of the Wildlife Management Committee of the Tennessee Fish & Wildlife Commission who were present unanimously approved a recommendation to hunt sandhill cranes beginning this Fall. The issue will be voted on by the full 13-member commission Friday morning, It's unclear how many commissioners will attend. Only ten were present for Thursday's committee meetings. With six members already expressing support for the season, passage on Friday seems likely.
Thursday afternoon a long list of hunting season supporters and opponents addressed wildlife commissioners about the issue that has already been widely-debated for more than two years. In 2011 the wildlife commission deferred the issue, opting for additional study.
During a recent public comment period, 1,073 people submitted their opinion. Officials said 888 of those comments were opposed to a hunting season.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency biologists say the population of sandhill cranes, mostly concentrated in southeast Tennessee around the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, can easily sustain regulated hunting. Fifteen other states in the U.S. already have sandhill hunting seasons, including Kentucky. TWRA biologists have proposed a shortened season for Tennessee with reduced shooting hours in an effort to "compromise" with opponents on whether to allow hunting of sandhill cranes in Tennessee.
However, opponents say the benefits of wildlife watching, and the well-known Sandhill Crane Festival at the Hiwassee Refuge provide greater benefits.
Dr. Robert Brewer, president of the Cleveland State Community College Wildlife Society said however, "Hunting and crane viewing can occur together. Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge only exists because of hunters' dollars who have provided the habitat and maintence of this area that attracted the cranes."
Opponents however fear that hunting, even limited hunting, will be harmful and potentially lead to inadvertent kills of whooping cranes, a federally endangered species, which also migrates through the area.
Vicki Henderson, representing the Tennessee Ornithological Society, said "We do not support the sandhill crane season."
Henderson said there are a mere 104 whooping cranes in the entire East, and most migrate through Tennessee. While adult whooping cranes are almost solid white she showed several photographs illustrating that juvenile whooping cranes and sandhills have very similar plummage and are hard to identify in the field.
Biologists said they reduced legal shooting hours to avoid "low light" situations and said that before receiving a permit, hunters will be required to pass a mandatory bird identification class.
Henderson said there is no significant proven need for a hunting season. She said however that there are thousands of people who have a strong "emotional attachment" to the birds. She said that last year the 22nd annual Sandhill Crane Festival provided $232,000 of direct economic impact to the area.
Avid birdwatcher Ken Dubke from Chattanooga emphasized he has no personal objections to hunting. But he believes the benefits the sandhill cranes bring to the area far outweight any the benfits of hunting them.0
"More money can be made from people coming to observe the cranes than can be made from shooting 50 or 100 of them," said Dubke.
Ben Yandell with the Kentucky Sandhill Crane Coalition, formed to try and stop crane hunting in that state, said by virtue of what they do, wildlife commissioners are typically pro-hunting.
"As non-hunters, we do not have a seat at the table," said Yandell. "We ask that before you vote you take that into consideration and remember those of us who do not have a seat at the table."
Numerous speakers agreed with Yandell, pointing out that the wildlife commission is expected to represent everyone in Tennessee, not just hunters.
Frank Duff spoke out in support of a hunting season. Duff said he is a hunter and owns a farm adjacent to the refuge. Duff said he plants 80-100 acres of crops every year. He said in past years he has had a federal depradation permit that allowed him to kill sandhill cranes that were damaging his crops.
"It doesn't work," Duff told wildlife commissioners. "With a depredation permit you cannot shoot them with any kind of concealment. You're not allowed to even hide behind a bush or in a treeline. You drive into a field with a shotgun but they're smart and they leave. As soon as you're gone, they come back. And if you do shoot one you're required to leave it to rot in the field."
Tennessee Sen. Mike Bell spoke out in support of a hunting season. Sen. Bell, who represents nine southeast Tennessee counties, including the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, said wildlife commissioners need to base their decisions on the science and not based on public opinion.
"Are we going to make our decisions about what we hunt based on emotions or on biology and best management practices," asked Sen. Bell. "I hope you will listen to the science and the expert biologists at TWRA and vote in favor of a hunting [crane] season."
Prior to voting in favor of the hunting season, Wildlife Commissioner Jim Bledsoe said, "I don't see that we're taking anything away from anybody. The festival is still going to be supported and the cranes are still going to be here."
Commissioners will convene at 9 am Friday for the final vote on the issue.
by Richard Simms
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_6741.shtml?fb_comment_id=fbc_1393457414214636_23890_1393862257507485#f2dbdfdc9c
Their Wildlife Commissioner doesn't see that "anything will be taken from anybody," but hello, what about the lives of the cranes?
This just proves that the ones mongering the power feel that they have been merely "indulgent" to the little conservationists. It drives me MAD.
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That is unfortunate.
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/gallery/2013/whoopers-8-26-13-birds-in-pen2.jpg)
Tom Schulz
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/gallery/2013/whoopers-8-13-13-richard-with-birds7.jpg)
They hold to this protocol all the way through. They never speak around the cranes, never present
to the babies in street clothes, and communicate through the hand puppet. Here the "tume" (costumed)
offers grapes and other treats.
But I wonder if the birds really believe the tumes are cranes, hmm.
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A new word for me today:
Zugunruhe (pronounced German pronunciation: [ˈtsuːkˌʔʊnʁuːə]) is a German compound word consisting of Zug (move, migration) and Unruhe (anxiety, restlessness).
In ethology it describes anxious behavior in migratory animals, especially in birds during the normal migration period. When these animals are enclosed, such as in an Emlen funnel, zugunruhe serves to study the seasonal cycles of the migratory syndrome. Zugunruhe involves increased activity towards and after dusk with changes in the normal sleep pattern.[1] Researchers have been able to study the endocrine controls and navigational mechanisms associated with migration by studying zugunruhe. ~Wiki
I'll bet Michael has zugunruhe about now.
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We are both under its influence right now :)
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http://www.youtube.com/v/4SAc5xSkjlM
They were looking good this morning!
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(https://sphotos-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1011824_10151829996569153_2092987466_n.jpg)
Sara Duff Sontag
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:)
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Here's a promo video for OM ... it's very beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ouCzFvENDdY
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They will probably begin migration tomorrow.
They aren't ready! During their training sessions, it hasn't happened once that all eight of them stay with the trike: invariably, 4 of them end up dropping out. This in 20/30-minute sessions: how are they going to travel?
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Migration launched on the 2nd, but it didn't go well. Only 4 stayed with the first trike to their first destination: then the other 4, after many attempts to cajole them up (by the 2nd trike), had to be crated. Now they are grounded per weather.
The willing 4:
http://www.youtube.com/v/KKLfGdlraTc
The balking 4:
http://www.youtube.com/v/a6AqeKJ3rB4
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Unfortunate - obviously not ready, but I expect the window of the season is not endlessly extendible.
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http://www.youtube.com/v/fCqxSAoW9BY
:)
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They've had so many days of grounding during their migration to Florida, that it's been hard to keep up. Very hit and miss. But they're in Georgia now, so it won't be long before they make their goal. :) :)
(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/gallery/2013/p1030296.jpg)
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If they make it, it will be wonderful.
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They made it.
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They made it.
When they were training in Wisconsin, 2 adult cranes from last year's class kept hanging around the pen and the field there. Amazingly, the same 2 adult cranes were there at the St. Mark's Reserve in Florida a couple of days ago, waiting for them! Here they are, visiting the newly-arrived young cranes.
(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/P1030573_e-1024x768.jpg)
I just think that's incredible and awesome.
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Great!
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A touching closure by one of the team...
Homeward Bound…
Jan.7,2014
We began the southward Whooping crane migration on October 2nd, but most of us have been away from home since the middle of September.
As in year’s past, we came together to carry out an important task. We come from various backgrounds and bring varying skills and talents but there is at least one common thread we share. We care enough about Whooping cranes to commit to spending days, weeks, months living in tight quarters, eating at odd schedules, driving (or flying) for hours in the cold.
Being away from home, family and friends, pets, and our day-to-day lives seems a small sacrifice when the outcome is that we succeeded in adding eight young Whooping cranes to a flock where just 13 years ago, there were none. Our stopover hosts made the trip bearable by opening their homes and their hearts to the crew and their isolated fields to our eight very special young cranes. We cannot thank you enough for your hospitality and your generosity.
96 days before the final arrival, we left our White River Marsh base camp with no idea of how long the trip would take. Just that we had to get it done. We left with eight cranes and we arrived at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, 1101 miles to the south with eight cranes; each, possessing the knowledge of a migration route, which they will retrace, on their own, in about a dozen or so weeks. A route, which hopefully, they will pass on to their progeny.
On days when the weather cooperated we went as far as the cranes would go or conditions would allow. On bad weather days, we kept our sanity knowing that we had our readers and supporters encouraging us to continue. We cannot thank you enough for making our work possible. You are the reason we were successful in our task.
Three and a half months ago, as we prepared to undertake this journey, Simon and Garfunkel played in the background as everyone went about their jobs. It seems only fitting that now, as we pack our belongings and prepare to head home, we’re listening to Homeward Bound.
The cranes will spend the next several weeks acclimating to their new winter home, while Brooke checks them twice daily. One day in late March or early April, they’ll spiral skyward, catch a south wind, and glide over the horizon of the salt marsh, heading north. Perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of them next summer in Green Lake County or surrounding areas. Perhaps not.
May you live long lives – wild and free as you should.
Heather Ray
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2014/01/07/homeward-bound/
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Animal friends, if you'd like to show support for Operation Migration, go to the following link and click on the "Vote for This Story" button. No money necessary, and you needn't identify yourself, even. If they win that contest, it could mean a nice $50,000 for OM.
http://eaglerarelife.com/content/brooke-pennypacker
(You can do it everyday until the contest is over, if you want.)
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good...
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This was kind of sad.
One of the young cranes sustained an injury to his leg, and he's had to remain in the pen while the others are out flying with the ultralight. You can hear him peeping in longing as the others fly over the pen. One day, upon their return to the runway, they let him out to join the others, and the first thing he did was jump for joy.
(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Whoopers-2014-9-7-4-taking-flight4-landing.jpg)
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They're up and running for this year, though "sound" is still not functioning.
http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes
The time to catch the trike-training is anywhere between 6am-8:30am EST. (Make adjustment per your time zone.)
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As the Cranes Turn
As happened last year, 2 adults from other (older) classes have shown up near the colts' pen, and this time the OM Training Team is being a little more tolerant of their presence. Personally, I think it's testimony that they are succeeding in what they are doing: teaching the cranes to migrate and navigate back to home base. Optimisitically, even, I have visions of these 'elders' joining the flock to lead them. Least I hope so.
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2015/07/14/photo-update/
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A lovely video.
http://nature365.tv/video-july-15-2015/
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As the Cranes Turn
As happened last year, 2 adults from other (older) classes have shown up near the colts' pen, and this time the OM Training Team is being a little more tolerant of their presence. Personally, I think it's testimony that they are succeeding in what they are doing: teaching the cranes to migrate and navigate back to home base. Optimisitically, even, I have visions of these 'elders' joining the flock to lead them. Least I hope so.
I was wrong in my idea that it could be good for training and flock-development when the adults from previous classes show up. It seems that they like to get ahead of the trike as it goes up and down the runway (already knowing and anticipating the plan), and getting ahead of the trike as it is still ground-borne is dangerous.
I'm glad to finally understand this.
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Photos by Tom Schulz.
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They had their first group lift-off today.
https://www.youtube.com/v/sxvyDRZyn7s
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Whoopers-2015-7-26-training1-1024x768.jpg)
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(http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DSC_7077_1.jpg)
Exuberance!
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:)
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The babies are flying!
http://www.wildearth.tv/videomark/whooping-crane-flight-training-aug-11-2015
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They're taking off today, if anyone is interested.
http://www.ustream.tv/migratingcranes
(Edited to add: scrapped the mission for today due to fog which isn't lifting.)
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Dear Nichi
Thank you for sharing such wonderful things here :)
i am very fond of birds too
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Dear Nichi
Thank you for sharing such wonderful things here :)
i am very fond of birds too
You're welcome, and I'm glad for any fellow bird-fans to join in any enthusiasm! I've had some travails with the organization, in that a few things they've done have upset me, but I'll always promote and support them.
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It rather makes me ill to report this, but the powers-that-be are trying to sabotage OM, even though OM is completely funded privately. It's a current trend, to undermine conservation efforts. Unthinkable things are happening, and protections are being lifted, across the board. A world gone mad.
There is a petition which could help, if you're so inclined. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/safeguard-the-future?source=c.em&r_by=1594998
This creates being on a mailing list, but as soon as I got the first one, I unsubscribed from it and labeled it "Spam". So, no harm no foul.
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Federal authorities to end use of ultralights for whooping crane project
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided it will no longer support the use of ultralight aircraft to lead young whooping cranes on their fall migration to Florida.
The decision ends the most visible and expensive strategy since 2001 to bring back the endangered birds to the eastern United States.
Officials announced late Friday that the ultralight-guided flights to the birds' wintering home on the Gulf Coast of Florida — now in their final days for 2015-'16 — will be the last.
The public-private effort has spent more than $20 million to establish a flock that is distinct from a larger, more robust flock of whooping cranes migrating between the Texas Gulf Coast and northern Canada. The western flock does not require similar intervention.
The agency signaled its intent to move away from mechanized migration last year. But it was unclear then whether Operation Migration, the nonprofit group that has led the birds from Wisconsin to Florida for 15 years, would be allowed to have another year or two to teach birds to migrate with ultralights.
The Canadian-based group has opposed the end of ultralights and mounted an online petition drive to generate support for its cause. The group says crane survivorship is better with ultralights than another method, where young cranes pick up cues from other adult cranes and follow them south.
The final decision took place in Baraboo at a meeting of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, according to Pete Fasbender of the Fish and Wildlife Service, a field office supervisor based in Bloomington, Minn.
"The real short answer is that we felt that this was in the best interest of the birds," said Fasbender, who has oversight responsibility for the flock in the eastern U.S.
The decision was motivated by the lack of success the birds have seen in producing chicks and raising them in the wild.
Since 2001, nearly 250 whooping cranes have been released in Wisconsin. About 93 are currently alive, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, only 10 chicks have survived to fledge.
Many first-time parents are known to abandon their nests. One reason is due to nettlesome black flies at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. But biologists have determined that other factors are probably also at play.
Experts in crane biology and other fields have concluded that the use of aircraft and other human interaction are having a negative effect on the birds. Another worrisome technique is the use of costumed humans who help care for chicks. The practices apparently are not allowing the birds to imprint parenting skills they need to raise their own chicks.
Since 2005, the chicks that fledged and were born in the wild came from only five pairs of adults, according to Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Why aren't the others getting it?" asked Fasbender. "The common thread is this lack of parenting skills."
During meetings last week, there was agreement to end the flights and limit human interaction with chicks, including minimizing interactions with costumed handlers.
The partnership includes Operation Migration and staff from the Baraboo-based International Crane Foundation, the largest crane conservation organization in the world. Barry Hartup, director of veterinary service, said the crane foundation agrees with the changes.
"We have to find ways to reduce the element of artificiality," Hartup said.
The decision is a major setback for Operation Migration, which disagreed with ending the use of ultralights. Staff are currently in northern Florida, just short of the final destination of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. The ultralight migration this year has lasted more than 100 days, with the birds flying on days when the weather is good and spending nights in pens.
Fasbender and Hartup believe there is a role for Operation Migration, which can use aircraft for field work and continue its efforts in fundraising, outreach and public relations.
The group says that it has used more than $10 million in donations for its crane work.
Joe Duff, chief executive officer of Operation Migration, posted comments on the decision on the group's website on Saturday.
"It is sad to see the end of aircraft led migration," Duff wrote. "There will be many people who will be disappointed, and even a few who will celebrate. But those reactions are all about people and our mantra has always been, it's about the birds."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/fish-and-wildlife-service-to-end-whooping-crane-migration-project-b99657191z1-366304761.html
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How interesting - a mixed bag of factors. I hope they find some way to continue with higher rates of success.
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This might be the end of the Eastern flock they were trying to enlarge, alas. There are so precious few that make it into subsequent years - and then some of those precious ones get shot.
As for OM, I think I've mentioned, there are some sort of political disputes running in the background of it all. "Someone" has it in for them, and now that "Someone" has succeeded. Very sad. I will definitely miss them.
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http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2016/01/25/day-102-lead-pilot-report-the-last-waltz/
It's really terribly, terribly sad.
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It's over now. They finally completed their last migration into St. Mark's Refuge in Florida today.
A sign of the times, I'm afraid, where great strides are now beaten back into oblivion by the pettiness of humans.
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http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2017/01/11/indiana-whooping-crane-shootings/
This is so heartbreaking. I admire their restraint in condemning the acts.
The world we live in.
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Yes.
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They've legalized the hunt of Sandhill Cranes again, which bodes poorly for the Whooping Crane, as all a hunter has to do is say, "Sorry, I thought it was an albino Sandhill." This article explains:
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2017/04/12/sandhill-cranes-lose-vote-in-wisconsin/
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It's particularly bad that this happened in Wisconsin, because Wisconsin is where they've been being bred and trained in recent years. So it's a given, the whoopers will be passing through.
Wolves, bears, cranes, and no doubt more. There are few protections surviving for these beings, in the insanity rampant today.
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First they outlawed the migration/ultralight aspect of this program. But the workers were still working at the refuge, bringing along the next generation. Now they've disbanded this part of the program too. They are going to "relocate" the whoopers who are living or who come to the refuge. All those hopes, all that work and dedication - all those beautiful birds.
I am not happy with this country or my species.
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That is sad.
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They gave up the ghost completely.
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2018/08/17/operation-migration-resigns-from-wcep-dissolves-organization/
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So I saw - very sad