Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”

Langston Hughes

Earth’s extremely devastating storms

Adversely affect both animal and man

The recent horrendous tornadoes in Florida

Were a crippling blow to crane restoration plans

A group of 18 endangered juvenile whooping cranes

Just last month had arrived in Florida from Wisconsin

They were led there by a human in an ultra-light plane

Many of us very glad their new lives were now to begin

Then extremely deadly tornadoes soon struck central Florida

And now it was feared that all eighteen of these birds were dead

The numerous members of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership

And scores of other bird loving individuals all now had thoughts of dread

But just a few days after these deadly storms had passed

The transmitter on Bird Number 15-06 was heard beeping

This young whooping crane was soon spotted in a marsh

One young survivor providing a tiny ray of hope worth keeping

Despite ever increasing threats to the animal world from Global Warming

Despite constant new setbacks from earth’s recent deadly catastrophes

Those of us working to preserve as many of earth’s animals as we can

Soon find each and every single survival story provides a tiny bit of glee

The whooping crane, which once numbered in the tens of thousands, is the tallest bird in North America.   And very sadly, it almost disappeared from the face of the earth way back in 1941, with only about 20 of these magnificent birds remaining.

Since 1941, many dedicated individuals have worked very diligently, and very compassionately, to keep this species of bird alive, even acting as surrogate migratory flock leaders in these ultra-light airplanes.

Currently, there are three flocks of surviving whooping cranes in the U.S.  Besides this particular flock that migrates from Wisconsin to Florida every year, there is a flock of about 200 birds that migrates between Canada and the Texas Gulf Coast on a yearly basis, and there is an additional non-migratory flock of about 60 whooping cranes that now reside in Florida year round.

Hearing about Bird 15-06 (Number 15, Class of 2006) truly provided me with a tiny ray of hope today.  And I truly hope this spunky young survivor lives a long glorious life – both wild and free.

To learn more about whooping cranes, and efforts to save them, please visit the website listed below.

“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream.

The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg,

And in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs."

James Allen

˙2007, Mr. Ed