Crane Encounters at the reintroduction site...
Female Whooping crane 102 (hatch year '01-crane 02), identified by the green over white radio transmitter on her left leg, and solid red band on her right leg, appears regularly at the north training site.
The policy of the field team is to leave the somewhat nosy older cranes alone - unless they are disrupting training of the young cranes. Occasionally the chicks will chase them off!
The north training site was constructed in '02 by the Necedah refuge staff and volunteers. Every couple of weeks the grass strip in the center of the photo must be mowed so the small aircraft can still land/take-off. The mowing is done while the handlers lead the young cranes a good distance away from the site (see below) but costumes must be worn even when mowing in case the now flight capable cranes decide to head back to the pen.
During the grass-mowing the handlers not relegated to the mower will lead the youngsters to an area away from the training site and keep them entertained.
One of the twenty-one returned cranes unison calls in an attempt to claim territory	Chick 302
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