We’ve moved from cool to cold but we still had a lot of visitors watching for cranes tonight.  The rain last week likely moved our water level up a bit which makes our crane counts go down.  There were several good flyovers above the Harold Wing lookout despite the relatively low numbers of cranes that stayed in Mud Lake Marsh tonight.  Cranes are still coming down from the UP, so we expect traffic to continue through Jackson county.

We saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans with a cygnet in tow-always good to see the generations continuing.  An egret and a heron  joined the ducks in the march while 3 harriers coasted above the water and grass.

Next Monday we will be participating in the annual USFWS annual crane count.

Crane counters:   Gary Siegrist & Steve Jerant
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count:  58 (183 total observed)
Species count:  33

41 Canada Goose

3 Trumpeter Swan -- 2 adult w/ 1 signet

3 Wood Duck

7 Gadwall

4 American Wigeon

2 Mallard

8 American Black Duck

3 Green-winged Teal

15 Ring-necked Duck

4 Hooded Merganser -- 2 pairs

4 Pied-billed Grebe

41 American Coot

10 Sandhill Crane

1 Great Blue Heron

1 Great Egret

3 Northern Harrier

1 Bald Eagle

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Eastern Screech-Owl

3 Downy Woodpecker

1 Hairy Woodpecker

2 Northern Flicker

1 Blue Jay

7 American Crow

4 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

3 Eastern Bluebird

55 American Robin

15 Cedar Waxwing

4 American Goldfinch

500 Red-winged Blackbird

4 Rusty Blackbird

2 Northern Cardinal

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S75466315

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