At Necedah NWR, older WCEP whoopers from previous migrations start thinking about heading south. This is the third year Patuxent has participated in the WCEP project. 

There are 20 older birds from the two previous WCEP releases. Three of them have already completed their fall migration, arriving at Chassahowitzka NWR in Florida this past weekend. Two of these birds are from the Class of 2002, Cranes #3 and #15, so this is their first unassisted migration back to Florida from Wisconsin. They completed the migration in only seven days. The third bird was Crane #1 from the Class of 2001. This bird migrated primarily with sandhills or by himself. He is currently in Pasco County in Florida where he spent last winter. Most of the birds from the previous releases are on their way to the Florida and eight of them from the 2002 release are traveling together. 

Weather prevented this year's WCEP migration from starting before October 16th, but since then the birds and their ultralight "parents" have traveled 577 miles. At the moment they're parked in Adair Co. Kentucky, waiting out heavy storm warnings. Fall weather always plays a major factor in the fall migration; sometimes conditions aren't right for the ultralights and sometimes they're not right for the birds. But safety for both the pilots and the chicks must be the first consideration.  

Daily updates and pictures of this year's ultralight migration can be found on Operation Migration's website in their Field Journal. Pictures and information on the individual chicks can be found at the Class of '03's Bio Sheet. 

A map following the progress of the migration can be found at: http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/where/index.htm

More updates and information on the WCEP project can be found at:
The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership website and The International Crane Foundations' website.