It was a beautiful fall evening at the sanctuary.  Gloves and hats were in use, so the season is finally changing.  Crane numbers continue to be rather low and only 14 of the 24 cranes seen tonight will be roosting in Mud Lake Marsh.  It is getting colder up north as well so we expect to see more crane traffic coming down to us in the next few weeks.

Sparrows were quite active around the overlook with 5 species observed.  We had some Great Egrets and a good variety of waterfowl in the marsh.  Gary was commenting that we have not seen the Bald Eagle yet this year and the next moment one appeared in his scope.

eBird checklist is available at: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S60627547

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

Crane Count:  14 (24 observed in the area)
Species count:  42

20 Canada Goose

2 Mute Swan

2 Trumpeter Swan

15 Wood Duck

1 Blue-winged Teal

1 Northern Shoveler

3 American Wigeon

20 Mallard

7 Ring-necked Duck

2 Pied-billed Grebe

3 American Coot

24 Sandhill Crane -- 14 in marsh

1 Great Blue Heron

7 Great Egret

3 Turkey Vulture

1 Northern Harrier

1 Bald Eagle

1 Red-tailed Hawk

2 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 Eastern Phoebe

10 Blue Jay

1 American Crow

1 Black-capped Chickadee

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet --

3 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Eastern Bluebird

70 American Robin

14 Cedar Waxwing

7 House Sparrow

1 American Goldfinch

10 White-crowned Sparrow

20 White-throated Sparrow

35 Song Sparrow

4 Lincoln's Sparrow -

10 Swamp Sparrow

500 Red-winged Blackbird

2 Common Grackle

1 Northern Cardinal

1 Indigo Bunting 

You can view past postings and historical crane counting data at

Haehnle site at http://www.haehnlesanctuary.org/crane-count