Follow the Birds

[-jeff]

A few years ago a photographer/friend /customer started exploring the feasibility of following the migration of the endangered whooping crane from the nesting ground in south Texas to the summer home in Alberta and Northwest Territories of Canada. The plan was to follow the same route in a airplane, low and slow, to make a continuous aerial photo of the route. The plan was to do this last year but, covid and a closed border got in the way.


Friday the first of April the journey will begin. The photographer is Michael Forsberg (https://www.michaelforsberg.com/). He will be flying with Chris Boyer of Kestrel Aerial Services (https://www.kestrelaerial.com/). I will be providing ground support and camera tech. Mike and I will leave Nebraska on Friday and Chris will leave Bozeman, MT Thursday. We will meet in Rockport, TX to begin the trek north.





My plan is to post a daily update here time permitting. I hope to meet Daryl (ghosthunters) while crossing Saskatchewan and any other camera trappers that might be close to the path.

[J Formstone]

Looks like a great project Jeff. I look forward to following along with your updates. Good luck.

[-jeff]

Day One was uneventful. We drove from Lincoln to Fort Worth, had a Popeyes chicken sandwich and went to bed. Tomorrow will take us to Rockport, TX where we will meet up with Chris and his airplane. Then, the trip will start to get interesting. Good night.

[-jeff]

Day Two


The trip south has taken us from Nebraska late winter, early spring to 80 degrees, leaves on the trees and green everywhere.


We left Ft. Worth at about 0800 and headed south to Rockport, TX. Some time along the say we decided that we will not eat at any chain restaurants. So while driving through Hallettsville, TX Mike found a BBQ joint on the internet.





Owned by a husband/wife team and staffed by their daughter.





I had a half of a chicken and potato salad. Both excellent.


Then on to Rockport, TX. Here is the view from my room.





Very close to the water and marina.





After a couple hours, the plane and pilot arrived at the airport.











The plane is a 1958 Cessna that the pilot has modified for aerial photography.


After a great meal at a local restaurant, we walked back to the hotel.














The next couple days will be spent swapping cards in timelapse camera systems we installed last year around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and doing some aerial photography. Then start the journey north to Ft. Smith, NWT.

[-jeff]

Day Three


Early morning brought fog and low visibility. I woke up early to watch the sunrise from a long pier close to the hotel. One look out the window and went back to bed. The fog started burning off shortly after sunrise.





After a quick breakfast we headed to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to check on the three timelapse cameras we installed last year. The first on the trip was installed on a observation platform overlooking Mustang Lake and San Antonio Bay.





It is a popular perch for vultures and other birds.


The second camera is on a elevated walkway close to the observation tower.





All of the timelapse systems are built around the Nikon D5600 and the TRLcam timelapse controller. Power is provided by a 25 watt solar and stored in a bank of eight supercapacitors. There are no batteries in the system which makes it extremely reliable for rears of use. The intervalometer timing is set by a GPS module on the control board. The GPS data is fed into a microcontroller that calculates the exact sunrise and sunset time for that location. The controller then starts taking pictures one hour before sunrise and stops one hour after sunset. In that first and last hour, four times as many images are captured. So, if the interval is set on one hour, the camera will shoot four images before sunrise and four images after sunset. The interval is set with a series of dipswitches. Very simple and very reliable.





The third camera is on a windmill tower a few miles from the observation platform.








Same setup as the other two and working well.


Before leaving the refuge we took a couple side trips down a couple walking paths. It was a great day for wildlife watching.

















About 1600 it cleard up enough for a VFR flight. So, we made our way to the airport to get setup.








The guys were in the air for about an hour and a half and had a successful trip.

[-jeff]

Day Four


Foggy, windy and a low ceiling. No flying today.

[-jeff]

Day Five


Foggy, windy and a low ceiling. No flying today.


But, we did find a great BBQ joint in Victoria, TX.














We also rigged a GoPro Hero Max 360 camera to the tail of the plane.





It should be interesting to see what that can produce.

[-jeff]

Finally a front blew through, lowered the humidity and changed the wind to the north. The pilot and photographer had a great day in the air and accomplished most of the objectives for this area.


After landing we had some really good pizza and called it a day.





Tomorrow morning we will load up and head north.

[-jeff]

Day Seven


Finally, a good weather window and we are out of here.





The aerial camera is in place.





The plane is fueled up.





Let's go north.

[-jeff]

Day Eight


We made it to Temple, TX last evening. We had a very strong headwind that made travel a challenge.


But it is a new day and we are headed north again.


After a quick stop at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge to swap cards on a couple timelapse cameras, we continued north.








The evening found us at a small airport near Anthony, KS where we spent the night on a ranch a few miles from the airport.