It was a blustery afternoon on the lookout today.  We observed two small groups of cranes for a total of 9 individuals.  None of them will be spending the night in the Sanctuary.  High wind, rain, and low visibility helped keep our species count down.

 

There was a lot of duck activity and we got one lone Great Egret roosting in Mud Lake Marsh.  A small group (for starlings) did a quick murmuration for us before settling down for the evening.

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

Crane Count:  0 (9 total observed)
Species count:  27

23 Canada Goose

4 Wood Duck

14 Gadwall

20 American Wigeon

200 Mallard

8 American Black Duck

2 Ring-necked Duck

1 Mourning Dove

25 American Coot

9 Sandhill Crane -- 0 in the marsh

1 Great Egret

2 Northern Harrier

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 Blue Jay

16 American Crow

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

150 European Starling

3 Eastern Bluebird

170 American Robin

9 Cedar Waxwing

5 sparrow sp.

300 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Rusty Blackbird

Number of Taxa: 27

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96707055

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

Well, we doubled our count of cranes from last week to 10.  That said, we are not seeing many cranes in the area during the day in other areas near the Sanctuary.  Families of 2 or 3 and small groups are being observed but no large gatherings yet.  The field crops have not all been harvested, and it has been quite warm. 

But when the crane counts are low we can watch all the other bird activity from the overlook and the trails.  There were a good variety of other species groups: ducks & water birds-11; sparrows & finches-8; raptors & shrike-8.

 Photo: Ross Green

This is the second week in a row having seen 5 Northern Harriers.  Our Northern Shrike is back so we are hoping we’ll be seeing him more as things cool down.

Crane counters:   Ross Green & Steve Jerant
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count:  10 (18 total observed)
Species count: 

50 species

92 Canada Goose

50 Wood Duck

5 Northern Shoveler

2 Gadwall

2 American Wigeon

28 Mallard

3 American Black Duck

3 Northern Pintail

10 Ring-necked Duck

2 Pied-billed Grebe

1 Mourning Dove

11 American Coot

18 Sandhill Crane -- 10 in marsh

1 Great Blue Heron

2 Great Egret

3 Turkey Vulture

1 Osprey -- Flying high over

5 Northern Harrier

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Cooper's Hawk

3 Bald Eagle

3 Red-shouldered Hawk

6 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Belted Kingfisher

2 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 Northern Shrike

12 Blue Jay

51 American Crow

1 Black-capped Chickadee

1 Tufted Titmouse

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

16 European Starling

12 Eastern Bluebird

47 American Robin

3 Cedar Waxwing

1 House Finch

1 American Goldfinch

1 Field Sparrow

7 White-crowned Sparrow

2 White-throated Sparrow

8 Song Sparrow

1 Lincoln's Sparrow

8 Swamp Sparrow

1000 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Rusty Blackbird

5 Yellow-rumped Warbler

Number of Taxa: 50

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96406015

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

Jackson Audubon opposes Sandhill Crane status change to non-protected species in Michigan.

Join Michigan and Jackson Audubon to maintain Sandhill Crane Status as a Federally-Protected, Non-Game Species.

From Michigan Audubon:

Michigan Audubon’s leadership, chapters, members, and supporters have steadily opposed repeated proposals to remove federal protections and hunt the sandhill crane. We believe the majority of Michigan residents would like to continue to see the Sandhill Crane protected as a traditional non-game (migratory) bird species in Michigan, too. We urge you to share your opinions about this issue to ensure more voices are heard.

Conservation groups like Michigan Audubon have been speaking out against short-sighted, special interest (sport shooting) proposals for several years. “Claims made by proponents of a proposed crane hunt fail to understand key differences and data about migratory population ecology, reproductive biology, and wildlife management from a sustainability perspective,” said Heather Good, Michigan Audubon’s Executive Director. “We ought to reinforce, not remove, federal protections this bird has earned over the last century. It’s time that our state legislative leaders step up to the plate and make better, sounder, more balanced decisions for the sustainable future of Michigan’s rich natural history–for people and wildlife alike.”

Read the complete Michigan Audubon statement and see how you can contact the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

Only 5 cranes were observed and none of them overnighted in the marsh.

Crane counters:   Ross Green & Gary Siegrist
Compiler:  Ross Green
Submitted by Ross Green

Crane Count:  0 (5a total observed)
Species count:  31

31 species

Canada Goose 1

Trumpeter Swan 3

Wood Duck 37

Blue-winged Teal 35

Mallard 2

Mourning Dove 1

Sandhill Crane 5

Great Blue Heron 4

Great Egret 36

Northern Harrier 5

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Downy Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 1

Blue Jay 2

American Crow 3

Black-capped Chickadee 1

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

European Starling 1

Eastern Bluebird 2

American Robin 20

Cedar Waxwing 5

Field Sparrow 1

White-crowned Sparrow 3

White-throated Sparrow 2

Song Sparrow 8

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

Swamp Sparrow 4

Red-winged Blackbird 320

Common Yellowthroat 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96027407    

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

I think only the ducks had a good day but we were able to do our observations tonight through breaks in the rain. The water in Mud Lake Marsh was high and a visibly larger area was evident than just one week ago.  Changing full and partial sunlight along with dark clouds made for some spectacular views. 

The largest movement of birds were the wood ducks and the blackbirds, but these were more muted than normal due to the weather.  The great egrets continue to roost for the evening and watching them glide in bright white against a black sky is always a treat for me. 

There were just a few raptors tonight and for one of them, we could not agree if it was a falcon or an accipiter. 

Only a single pair of cranes will be roosting tonight. If it was the same pair as last week, we thank them for their patronage.

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

Crane Count:  02 (8 total observed)
Species count:  30

30 species (+2 other taxa)

Canada Goose 19

Wood Duck 64

Blue-winged Teal 3

American Black Duck 1 DNS

Mourning Dove 5

Sandhill Crane 8 2

Great Blue Heron 2

Great Egret 21

Northern Harrier 2

Bald Eagle 1

hawk sp. 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Downy Woodpecker 2

Blue Jay 10

American Crow 3

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

House Wren 2

European Starling 2

Gray Catbird 1

Eastern Bluebird 8

American Robin 56

Cedar Waxwing 12

House Finch 2

American Goldfinch 3

Song Sparrow 4

Swamp Sparrow 3

sparrow sp. 4

Red-winged Blackbird 185

Common Grackle 1

Common Yellowthroat 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler 2

Indigo Bunting 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S95610141   

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

Half a dozen JAS members joined the watch for raptors at Erie Metropark on Tuesday.  It was a beautiful day with a clear sky, but a few more clouds might have been nice to help locate birds.  We observed 9 raptors including a Peregrine Falcon attempting a lunch break on a Black-bellied Plover.  My list shows 9 Bald Eagles, but the official count from the Detroit River Hawkwatch cited only 1.  We may have been seeing 'local' birds which they do not count at migration.  

I addition to gulls that normally clog the sky while you are trying to spot raptors, the site has been overrun for the past days with huge numbers of Blue Jays coming over the border from Canada.  I entered 2000 in eBird, but per the official Hawkwatch post on Tuesday, "We totaled thirty-seven thousand, two hundred and fifty-one."  So I guess I was a bit off.

A few of us took a walk on the trail adjacent to the observation area to see if we could get some smaller birds for our trip.  We got a hummer, a few warblers, and the usual suspects. And we did see one of the most dangerous animals in Michigan-the dreaded Metropark deer. Famously unafraid of humans.

My eBird list is available HERE 

Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2021
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	715	1150	1150
Osprey	0	17	17
Bald Eagle	1	27	27
Northern Harrier	1	125	125
Sharp-shinned Hawk	92	2074	2074
Cooper's Hawk	0	5	5
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	931	20064	20064
Swainson's Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	5	42	42
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	25	519	519
Merlin	2	20	20
Peregrine Falcon	4	21	21
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	1	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	1776	24065	24065

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

The Haehnle newsletter has been released for fall 2001.  It is available on the Haehnle website at this LINK.

Hope to see you at the Sanctuary this fall!

Eleven JAS members and some guests toured Haehnle on Tuesday lead by Gary Siegrist.  He provided some history of the sanctuary and we got some insight into the wildflowers in bloom. 

1984-NovDec_MA_NewsHaehnleArticle.pdf

It was hot and there were many mosquitoes.  

eBird list

The weather was perfect today for a walk trough the grassland trails at Watkins Lake.  Our group of 15 started on the east side and walked the trail to the lookout of the wetland to the north. After returning to parking are we continued west to the upland grassland area to walk the red trail loop.

Highlight species include:

• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Eastern Towhee
• Bobolink
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Scarlet Tanager

See the trip's eBird checklist  for full species list.