Tonight, we had three teams counting at Haehnle and locations north of the sanctuary for the annual USFWS Fall Sandhill Crane Survey.  Haehnle volunteers participate each year to contribute to this nationwide crane count managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  Data from this survey help wildlife managers make sound decisions about cranes based on population estimates.

Gary Siegrist and Don & Robyn Henise worked Haehnle per the usual Monday schedule. The other two teams of Ron Hoffman & Ross Green and Lathe Claflin &  Steve Jerant worked two portions of a neighboring property north of the Sanctuary.  No counts were done in the Hawkins & Dalton Rds. area as the crane counts these past weeks have been low. 

Gary and the Henise’s reported 1,297 cranes observed, of which 779 remained in the marsh for the evening.  Lathe & I counted 1,755 total with 1714 staying on the property. Ron & Ross counted…0.  This was we thought odd as they were in an area we saw many cranes moving towards from our station, but alas, they did not have any land for the evening.

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

Crane Count: 1,297 (779 Stayed in Mud Lake Marsh)

Species count:  39

View Don’s eBird checklist at https://ebird.org/checklist/S121653630