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Whooper Happenings|Whooper Happenings_26 For One Bird... Episode
As the OM team made the last leg of their migration through Southern Indiana, one birdā #733, decided to drop out and go his own way. Many people spent days looking for this guy, but it wasnāt until over 5 days later he was finally located and recovered! His return to the flock represents many hours of hard work, searching, hours in the air for pilots Jack Wrighter and Dave Mattingly in the top cover aircraft and for the ultralight pilots as well. Many hundreds of calls from local spotters and landowners directed searchers to the bird ultimately, who made a triangle it seems back into Southern Indiana, and then into Kentucky. Local media and residents played a major role in assisting the OM team and many others in the birdās recovery as well.
All this āfor one birdā some might ask? Well, in a wordā yes! Whooping cranes donāt come easily, and in the wild they rarely happen at allā except for one in Florida and W601 in 2006! Every bird, captive-bred or wild, is a precious resource, with many hours of care and love behind them. Whether from the Whooper parents as in Necedah last summer (2006) or in a semi-dry marsh in Florida this past summer, these birds need protection and the habitat to enable their survival. Their very tenacity and ability to rebound from near extinction entitles them to our concern and more. It is human carelessness and disregard that brought their near demiseā we can do no less than safeguard each as best we can now. We owe them that much, and more!
Join Peggy and me for the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival January 23rd thru the 26th at the Brevard Community College North Campus. Joe Duff will be there speaking on the 25th and 26th, but limited seating (free with festival admission) is first-come, and his presentation āFlying With Birds ā Saving A Speciesā is something you must hear and see! For more info about the festival, where OM will be have an exhibit, go to http://www.nbbd.com/fly/ .
Thanks for listening to WH 26; join us again soon as we hope to meet-up with the team in Hiwassee very soon for their departure there. Hopefully no crane rodeos this year, and the guys get all 17 to fly as one unified flock! Right!
Note: The presentation Joe will give is on 1/25 from 1-2 pm in the auditorium, and Saturday 1/26 also in the auditorium from 10:30 am to 12 noon. This last presentation is a different time than mentioned in the podcast. Thanks!
Operation Migration
Operation Migration
[ Sun, 2 Dec 2007 17:26:00 GMT ]
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