After that bummer of a news story yesterday (which I had been trying to bury with other posts), we get signal of hopeful news...literally a signal:

From WFRV:

(AP) MILWAUKEE One young whooping crane likely survived a Florida storm that killed 17 other cranes, which were led south last fall from Wisconsin by ultralight aircraft.

Organizers originally thought all 18 birds had perished in the storms early Friday while they were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.

But when they went in for the birds' carcasses yesterday, they discovered one missing.

Rachel Levin, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, says they later received a signal from its transmitter on Saturday and then again today. She says his signal is in the enclosure's vicinity.

She also says the bird happens to be the male that wandered from the flock on their last day of migration in December and was found a few days later.

So much hope resting on one bird with a tendency to wander. Sometimes a bird going away from the flock is what is needed in order for it to survive and succeed. Not every lone bird seemingly lost from its flock is lost or in trouble.