Autumn and Migration in Florida
By Dawn "Belladonna" Thomas

We are beginning to see cooler breezes at night but the ninety degrees of the days does nothing to make it feel as if it is autumn. I have noticed that the leaves on poplar trees are beginning to turn to gold. Soon the bald cypress trees will drop their needles. They are the most interesting evergreen tree I have ever seen. These changes can't compare to the colors in the North and at times I miss seeing this part of the year. This is the time of year when I miss my old home. Where we lived in Maryland we could tell the change of the seasons by the migration of the Canada Geese. They usually arrive the beginning of October and usually stay until the beginning of April of the following year. It was such a joyous sight to see these beautiful large birds.

The beginning of this season will bring the great migration - the Snowbirds. They come from the Northeast, Canada, Ohio, and Michigan. The other migration that is occurring now is whooping cranes from Wisconsin. The whooping crane flight is led by a non-profit organization named Operation Migration, which has been doing this for seven years. An ultralight plane leads the birds.

Last year the migration was plagued with mechanical difficulties. That was going to be the last migration trip. After a trip that took twice as long as it should have, the cranes arrived to a warm reception. The "Craniacs" were out and about to show their love for these unusual looking birds. The birds were taken to a nearby wildlife habitat to live with other birds. An unexpected storm came through the wildlife part and killed the birds. Originally all birds were thought to be dead but then one young male was found. He was living with a family of Sandhill cranes. We have recently learned that he succumbed and died too. 

This year there are seventeen young cranes in the flock coming down in this year's migration. They left Wisconsin on October 13th; but they are experiencing weather delays. I wish them well and better weather for the rest of their trip. This is a link to Operation Migration: http://www.operationmigration.org/. On this site you can click the In the Field link and track their progress.