Had Three More Endangered Whoopers in Front Yard

[SkyPup]

I flew over our farm yesterday in a two man GyroCopter and took this photo. The white line in the center is our limerock grade that we built and maintain, the lake in the center is a 160 acre lake that is a bit out of its normal swampy banks and the creek running under the road runs down to a spring head and empties directly into the aquifier. The Whooping cranes have been hanging out right at the intersection of our limerock roadway and the creek coming downstream of our lake. Our 850 acre prairie is the third in a series of prairies and lakes that drain a 55 square mile basin, ours is the last in the series with the water going down into a huge sinkhole directly into the aquifier.

 

[SkyPup]

Here is me grading the road with our L3130 right where it curves to give a better indication of size perception.

 

[beenthere]

Thanks for the post. I am near the Baraboo Crane Foundation site, and have heard a lot about the 'flights' in ultra-lights to Florida to teach the cranes to fly south and then north to raise young.

http://www.operationmigration.org/index.html

 

[GaryM]

Nice photos, thanks for sharing. I too am envious!

 

[SkyPup]

Thank you for that nice hyperlink of the project. Chassahowitzka NWR is about 60 miles by air SouthWest of us. We have had visiting Whoopers from there too who came down via the Ultralite.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Thanks for posting Skypup. I grew about 50 miles from Aransas National Wildlife preserve in Texas. I used to get to fish in the bays near where they live but I live a bit inland now and no time. The Aransas refuge is pretty much out of the way and to get there, you have to travel about 20 miles off the nearest highway. There are skads of coyotes and other predators that live in the salty marshlands here too. I'm not sure what they do if anything to help protect them at night. Apparently, they are coming around. I think they got down to 17 birds or something in the 70's.

Here's an interesting tale. One bird was actually (accidentally) shot and killed about 5 years ago near Wharton Texas. At first, no one fessed up, but later of all people a lawyer from Houston admitted shooting it by mistake and turned himself in. He received some type of fine and who knows what else. I guess if anyone needs an HONEST lawyer, this guy would be the one to hire. hahaha

 

[SkyPup]

OMG, an honest lawyer (who doesn't know how to hunt)???? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I learn something new here at TBN everyday! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SkyPup]

Here is the pic of the GyroCopter that I flew over our property in, it has a 110HP Suburu horizontally opposed four cylinder engine and cruises about 85 mph, top speed is about 120mph. When I shot the aerial photo we were at ~ 5,000 feet, top ceiling is 10,000 feet.

 

[DannyD]

That is so cool! Sort of James Bond looking, only without the shooting stuff. Do you have to have a license to fly it, or is it like ultralites, on your own sort of thing.

 

[SkyPup]

You don't need a license, but I would recommend making sure you know how to fly it before taking the controls! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

The top rotor is a static one, the rear propeller provides the power. Takes about 25 feet for a take-off and about 50-75 for a landing depending on the wind speed.

It does vibrate like MAD though and sure is LOUD /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Have to use a high speed camera shutter to avoid the vibrations from interferring with the camera shot.