15 - Last week before migration
As the marsh vegetation turned yellow in late summer, the crane family flew in and out of the nest territory several times each day. These frequent excursions probably help improve Pi's flying fitness as well as his navigational skills.
In late August and early September, the family overnighted across Goldstream valley, but on one cold night, they slept in their nest territory. Morning frost coated the marsh grasses and their feathers, as seen in images 3-5 below.
The cranes signal each other so that they take flight together. First Millie and Roy purr, next align in then same direction, and then lean forward in the Intent-to-fly posture. Generally the parents are the first to lift off. Sometimes, as in the second image below, Pi took the lead position as they crossed the pond.
On September 4th, Millie seemed more motivated than Roy to take wing. She purred repeatedly while awaiting Roy's commitment to fly.
In the September 7th video segment, the family called energetically and circled the pond before landing. Perhaps such calling reflected rising arousal associated with impending departure?
Instead of landing after such a noisy approach on September 8th, they turned south to start their migration.
