Bill Began his Experiments with Bird flight as early as 1985. Inspired by the film Skyward, in which Canada Geese are filmed flying behind a boat, Bill wondered if it were possible to teach geese to fly behind his ultralight aircraft. During the Early years Bill and his family videotaped their daily adventures and eventual success. Afterwards Bill edited the footage and came up with the short documentary video "C'mon  Geese", a phrase that could be heard echoing through the valley behind Purple Hill on any given summer morning in the late 80's, as Bill and family chased, herded and cajoled the little yellow fuzzballs into following the aircraft. C'mon Geese contains fantastic footage of the cute little goslings as well as dramatic never before seen in flight images of the birds close up from the ultralight. The video was a smashing success and is aired regularly on public broadcasting stations.

Awards:
Blue Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival.
Gold Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival.
Grand Prize of Festival , Free Flight Film Festival, France.
*** Video Rating Guide for Libraries




      
  This Video chronicles the adventures of Operation Migration on their first successful Cross Country migration. The film is a mixture of beautiful footage of the birds in flight, and the  the colourful characters behind the migration.
    "I could fill a hundred pages on the trials an traumas that Joe Duff, Bill Sladen and I went through to hatch and raise our flock of Canada geese. We had to source, design, assemble the flying hardware and negotiate endlessly with a skeptical bureaucracy that required more paper than the weight of our aircraft. Not to mention the day-to-day dedication required to lovingly condition those birds to accompany us on our 400 mile flight from Ontario to Virginia. It was mid-summer when the birds simply refused to co-operate. We were ready to fold up our wings. It seemed we were always on the uphill side of the curve. However a change in aircraft and a new approach gave us enough hope to carry on, and eventually the project turned around."  - taken from the cover of the video.

Currently there is another video in the works, chronicling Operation Migration's experiments with Sandhill Cranes. Check Back soon for more information. The videos can be purchased from the  Operation Migration, website, or by calling 1-800-675-2618 with the proceeds going to help fund Current and future migration experiments. To Purchase for educational purposes, contact Bullfrog Films.