We kicked off the 2021 season today. The only cranes that were in the marsh were seen when we arrived this afternoon.  Some cranes were spotted coming down just to our north and others were heard to the south. 

Egrets made a strong showing tonight and all roosted together with our two cranes.  The sparrows were not too plentiful but we had lots of waxwings feasting on black cherries and pokeberry.  Three Northern Harriers were active during most of our time on the overlook.  They moved over most of the area working the marsh as normal but also coming up the emergent marsh as well as soaring higher in the sky.  Our big treat was a Common Gallinule which is a somewhat rare sighting for Haehnle.

It was a beautiful afternoon with the colors just barely starting to show.  A few groups of Canada Geese came in just after sundown and a single bat, likely a Big Brown, closed out the night observations. 

Crane counters:   Ross Green, Gary Siegrist & Steve Jerant
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count:  02 (32 total observed)
Species count:  31

Species

Canada Goose 22

Wood Duck 76

Mallard  1

Mourning Dove 6

Common Gallinule 1

Sandhill Crane 32

Great Blue Heron 3

Great Egret 45

Turkey Vulture 1

Northern Harrier 3

Bald Eagle 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Downy Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 1

American Kestrel 1

falcon sp. 1

Blue Jay 7

American Crow 4

Black-capped Chickadee 1

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

House Wren 2

Carolina Wren 1

Gray Catbird 1

American Robin 10

Cedar Waxwing 10

American Goldfinch 7

Field Sparrow 1

Song Sparrow 1

Swamp Sparrow 2

Red-winged Blackbird 250

Common Yellowthroat 4

warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.) 1

Indigo Bunting 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S95276343

You can view past postings and historical crane counting data on the Haehnle web site at http://www.haehnlesanctuary.org/crane-count