We had a banner day at the sanctuary with more cranes roosting than were observed passing through.  No huge groups came in, but we had steady activity for nearly an hour around sunset and beyond.  Also, lots of flyovers directly above us on the overlook.  While it was a bit chilly and windy, we had good sun and were able to see the setting sun hit a Rough-legged Hark perfectly to clinch the ID.  In addition to the cranes we had lots of ducks and a single Great Blue Heron, perhaps the last of the season.

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

Crane Count:  699 (1113 total observed)
Species count:  18

45 Canada Goose

18 American Wigeon

300 Mallard

9 American Black Duck

1 Mourning Dove

90 American Coot

1113 Sandhill Crane -- 699 roosting in marsh 414 counted in the area.

1 Ring-billed Gull

1 Great Blue Heron

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Rough-legged Hawk

1 Hairy Woodpecker

1 Blue Jay

3 American Crow

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

9 American Robin

1 American Tree Sparrow

800 Red-winged Blackbird

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S76348497

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