Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 11/04/2024
By Don Henise
Temps were in the mid-sixties, unseasonable warm for November 4th. The sky was overcast and rain was threatening, but the only precipitation we experienced was a little drizzle. The Sandhill Crane flight into Mud Lake Marsh was incredible this evening as cranes came in from multiple directions. A total of 1528 cranes remained to roost in the marsh for the night. Another 581 were counted as fly-bys, most of them appearing to go down into private property to the north of Haehnle Sanctuary.
View from the lower lookout (Steve Jerant)
A total of 35 bird species were tallied for the evening. Again, lots of Ducks continue to be seen between the marsh and Eagle Lake. For the past few weeks, we have been seeing a few Rusty Blackbirds each Monday evening. Tonight, several of the trees to the right of the overlook were full of blackbirds; the 35 Rusty Blackbirds we put on the eBird checklist was probably a low estimate.
This is beginning to sound like a broken record – we again had a Merlin appear in the middle of the crane flight. This week though it didn’t just blast through, but landed on a tree top for a few minutes before flying past the lookout hill.
Total Cranes Roosting: 1,528
Counters: Ross Green, Robyn Henise, Steve Jerant, Gary Siegrist, Don Henise
Compiled by: Don Henise
Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S201437934
