Joe Duff Lead Pilot ReportWhen I launched with the birds, I could not see them. The only place to land is on a tractor road 300 feet from the pen. It?s over a slight ridge but as soon as the birds are 10 feet up, they could see me and hear the vocalizer. I took off and they fell into place ? but not for long. One bird kept turning them back every time we headed on course.
Just to the south of the pen there is a forest that extends east and west for miles. The fog seemed to catch in the branches like a solid wall so we had to circle to gain a little altitude while Colleen and Heather paraded around the pen as animated swamp monsters.
The thicker the fog got, the less agreeable they seemed to be about crossing it, but there was also a battle playing out between numbers 1 and 2. One bird would break and lead a few others back. I would chase them and invariably when I took back the lead, it was number 2 up front. 40 minutes later I was still corralling birds within a mile of the pensite.
Finally after 50 minutes, number 2 veered off alone. Her departure was so sudden that the other birds did not follow and that allowed Brooke (chase pilot) to move in quickly and pick her up. He went east and I took the others west.
With one bird you can concentrate your efforts and he soon had her on course but it wasn?t easy. She kept bouncing from wing to wing or leading the trike, or worse, dipping below the wing where she had to work hard and use up her reserved energy.
They broke once more and something interesting happened. Often when they leave the aircraft they will fly parallel to the trike a few hundred yards away. They seem to be deciding whether to leave or come back. If you turn towards them, they take that as confirmation to turn for the pen. But if you hold your course, they sometimes come back.
As we flew east, four cranes drifted off to the left leaving #1 alone on my wingtip. I could see her calling and there was a moment of indecision. I held my course while number 1 left my wingtip, took over the lead of the four and brought them back to the trike.
With all five birds on the wing I turned on course. We had been airborne an hour and 6 minutes and we were finally on our way.
Brooke was miles ahead and working hard to keep number 2 flying. We slowly climbed to 800 feet but my birds were now getting tired. They had flown for more that a hour with only short periods of soaring on the wing. I took them up to 1000 feet. But they would fall behind and fly with their beaks open to get more air. We landed next to Brooke who already had number 2 in the pen and water and feed ready.
The total flight took 2 hours and 26 minutes but it was hard work all the way ? both for the birds and the pilots. I made sure #1 got extra grapes and I quietly thanked her for the help.
http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2015/12/08/day-69-lead-pilot-reportI edited, click link and read it. Joe is a great writer and speaker!
Joe took these photos in flight with a selfie stick. How creative!
Poor Joe! What an insane flight! On link is an image from Joe's GPS unit showing his track history. lol - Will they shove #2 in a crate? What a naughty girl!
December 8
It doesnt appear they will be going ANYwhere for several days
weather
They put up a test trike, but no go.
Snips a couple pics
birds were ready!
Author
Topic: Whooping Cranes, Operation Migration (Read 113456 times)