Cranes lift off from Muscatatuck NWR - Photo by Donna Stanley

Onlookers snap pictures as ultralights fly low over crowds gathered to see the Whooping Cranes at Muscatatuck NWR. - Photo by Donna Stanley

Muscatatuck NWR, Indiana, served as a stopover site for the Operation Migration - Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership project.  Eighteen young cranes and crew flew and drove into the refuge for a stopover,  November 17.  

The project used the same secluded field as last year for a landing strip and overnight penning of the cranes with the pen being set up November 12. With favorable winds, but conditions uncertain due to low-lying fog, the team went into standbye mode for almost 45 minutes. 

Shortly after 8a.m. November 18, it appeared the fog was burning off enough to make an attempt to fly, and the ground crew headed for the pens and the pilots for their ultra light trikes.  A large crowd of spectators gathered at Muscatatuck NWR to witness the departure flyover as the cranes and planes left Jackson County for Shelby County, Kentucky. 

Joe Duff was lead pilot and took off leading 17 of the 18 chicks, but the birds broke up almost immediately.  The pilots spent 22 minutes in the air over the refuge doing a “crane round-up” before getting on their way in quest of the next southerly point on their route to Florida.

The project is part of an international partnership effort to establish a migrating flock of whoopers in the Eastern United States.  All portions of the stopover went well, with refuge staff accommodating needs of both the cranes and crew.

Muscatatuck NWR is the only national wildlife refuge on the stopover schedule between Necedah and Chassahowtzka NWRs.