Wintering Grounds

Great News!

Most of the chicks have reached their wintering grounds!

(37-09 and Feta/27-10)

I'm happy to announce that Pepper Jack has caught up with Havarti, Queso, & Feta (22, 25, & 27-10) and they will most likely be wintering at Weiss Lake, AL. Weiss Lake is an ENORMOUS lake that straddles the Alabama, Georgia border in the north of the states. There are a lot of rivers and marshy areas surrounding the lake, so there should be enough food for the 4 juveniles (yes, I have to stop calling them chicks) and their adults.

(Havarti/22-10, sweetie)

22, 25, & 27-10 left the adults they were with originally (13-03 and 18-03). We don't know if they found this lake on their own or if they came down with different adults, but they have arrived and it's a good spot, so I'm happy about it. PJ came down from Indiana WITH 11-02 and 30-08!!  George and Trixie are still with him. I was a little worried that George was going to keep them all up there in Indiana. Apparently, Weiss Lake has been a previous wintering ground for him, so they will likely stay.

(37-09 and 22, 25, 27-10)

Every time I go down to Alabama to check on them, I always see PJ hanging out with the adults rather than with the other chicks. I'm not surprised by this. I'm not sad about it, either. Sometimes cranes have difficulty being reincorporated into a group. PJ was separate for so long that he may not feel like part of the group, or the group may not accept him. He IS with the adults, though. He's learning valuable things from them and hopefully he will follow them when they begin their migration north.

(PJ/19-10 is center of George&Trixie, 12-04 & 27-05, also Great Blue Heron)

19-10 with 12-04 (a.k.a Super Dad)