We left Gary all by himself tonight while Ross and I counted other locations for the USFWS Annual Crane Survey. 

Gary reported, “We had two new species arrive at the sanctuary from this weekend's storms. One was a American Tree Sparrow and the other was a  Rough-legged Hawk. We also counted 377 sandhill cranes roosting in Mud Lake Marsh with another 656 cranes flying by north of the sanctuary.”

Ross counted 786 roosting at Hawkins Rd. near Portage Lake.  Always a popular spot.

Ron Hoffman & I counted 698 on private property north of Haehnle Sanctuary. That was about a 4000% increase from last year’s count for that location.  It was a clear night and my region to watch was due west. I did my best Galileo impression by accidentally looking at the sun with binoculars while following a large group of cranes.  But we did have a beautiful sunset.

The cranes did a great job getting counted tonight-be sure you do the same tomorrow on Election Day!

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

Crane Count:  377 (1033 total observed)
Species count:  23

23 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  33

Trumpeter Swan  3    Trumpeters nest in Mud Lake Marsh at Haehnle Sanctuary and this is 2020 family group.

American Wigeon  12

Mallard  19

American Black Duck  15

Pied-billed Grebe  1

Sandhill Crane  1033    Had 656 flybys north of sanctuary with 377 roosting in Mud Lake Marsh

Ring-billed Gull  2

Northern Harrier  2

Cooper's Hawk  1

Bald Eagle  1

Red-tailed Hawk  1

Rough-legged Hawk  1

American Crow  29

American Robin  21

Cedar Waxwing  20

Purple Finch  2

American Tree Sparrow  1

White-throated Sparrow  9

Song Sparrow  1

Red-winged Blackbird  140

Common Grackle  2

blackbird sp.  400

Northern Cardinal  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S75765009

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