We huddled under the kiosk this blustery afternoon to watch the cranes come in to roost at Haehnle Sanctuary.  While only 243 were officially ticked, several thousand were setting down to the north. 

A solo Trumpeter Swan came into mud lake marsh and flew right above the overlook. Then, when just out of sight, it gave us a few toots in case we weren’t sure if it was a tundra.  While we normally see a Northern Harrier, our spotters saw a group of four:  a mature male (“silver bullet”) and three immatures.

You can view past postings and historical crane counting data at http://www.haehnlesanctuary.org/cranecount.html.

Crane counters:    Robyn Henise, Don Henise, Ross Green, and Gary Siegrist
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count-243

Species count- 26

Trumpeter Swan

Canada Goose

Green-winged Teal

American Black Duck

Mallard

Ring-necked Duck

Hooded Merganser

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Sandhill Crane

Ring-billed Gull

Mourning Dove

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Blue Jay

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Eastern Bluebird

Cedar Waxwing

American Tree Sparrow

House Finch

American Goldfinch