Whooping Cranes on their way - Day 12

After six days of downtime because of the weather here in Wisconsin the flock was able to move on to site three (Sauk County) on their journey south. Better news is, it also looks good for tomorrow. So, after this mornings 26 miles, we have a total of 49 miles in 12 days. The ultralight planes simply cannot travel with wind and the low fog we sometimes have here is also a factor.



Here they are taking off - note the beautiful fall color.



And, all 14 are on their way to Sauk County, Wi.

The crew was kept busy the past six days amusing the cranes who were kept in their travel pens. Just like a bunch of children, they can get themselves in trouble when they are bored. Apparently they love pumpkins and can entertain themselves by playing with pumpkin pieces.


Here's Number 829, playing with his piece of the pumpkin.


And here's the gang in the travel enclosure. The handlers/crew wear the white "uniforms" at all times when around the cranes.

All pictures are from the Operation Migration website. Please visit there to see many more wonderful pictures. Please also visit the In the Field pages for the interesting journal entries the crew post each day.

Technorati tags: Whooping Crane
International Crane Foundation
Operation Migration
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership
Journey South