In the history of bird conservation, one of the most amazing and inspiring stories has involved the work of Operation Migration. These are the people who pioneered the method of teaching certain kinds of birds their migratory route by leading them with ultralight aircraft. Their early experiments with Canada Geese inspired the film "Fly Away Home," and led to work with Sandhill Cranes and ultimately with Whooping Cranes. Since 2001, they have been leaders in the attempt to reintroduce a migratory flock of Whooping Cranes to the eastern United States. In fact, this very day - October 2nd - the 2013 batch of eight young Whoopers began their trip south from White River Marsh, Wisconsin, led by the ultralight, headed for their winter home in Florida. It's a remarkable story, and it's even better when you hear it from Joe Duff, one of the founders and pilots and currently the CEO of Operation Migration. Joe is one of the best public speakers that I've ever heard, a man with incredible knowledge and experience and with a contagious passion for his work in bird conservation. Ohio birders will have a chance to hear Joe Duff speak when he comes to the Port Clinton area on October 12th. He'll be delivering the keynote address at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory's 20th anniversary banquet. There are still a few places left for attendees, but the deadline for registering is this Friday, Oct. 4th. More details are at this link: http://www.bsbobird.org/events/annual_banquet_celebration.htm At any rate, I wanted to make sure that local birders knew about this opportunity. Kenn Kaufman Oak Harbor, OH ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]