2025 Waterloo CBC by Don Henise

The 57th Annual Waterloo State Recreation Area Christmas Bird Count took place on December 20th, 2025. Most participants reported a slow start to the day with overcast skies and cold temps in the upper teens. The day improved as temps rose into the upper 30s, but it still remained mostly cloudy. 

WaterlooCBC-Birders(Sydney Fitzpatric)

Thirty-three field participants and 5 feeder watchers tallied 7,055 individuals of 64 species in the 15 mile diameter circle. The species count was above our average of 59 species, but the total individuals was slightly below the average of 7596. A contributing factor to this was relatively low numbers of Sandhill Cranes which I'll discuss below. Most of the lakes and ponds were frozen leading to low numbers of waterfowl.

Highlights for the day were a Lincoln's Sparrow seen on Dewey Road (only the 2nd time on the count); a Snow Goose seen flying off of the ice at Gilletts Lake (3rd time); a Golden Eagle and Northern Shrike on Dalton Road; 29 Snow Buntings on Cedar Knoll Drive just north of I94; a Winter Wren on Kinch Road; and 5 White-crowned Sparrows on McCreary Road. We recorded record high counts for 4 species; 20 Bald Eagles broke the old record of 14 set just last year; 7 Red-shouldered Hawks and 7 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers almost doubled their old records of 4 from 2023 & 2024 respectively; and 12 Brown Creepers broke the record of 10 from 2018.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) (Don Henise)

Other species recorded in higher than normal numbers were Golden-crowned Kinglets - 19 over an average of 7; Red-breasted Nuthatch - 10, average of 5; Hermit Thrush - 6, highest count since 9 in 2005; Dark-eyed Junco - 601 average of 375; and Northern Cardinal - 224 average of 165. As mention earlier only 494 Sandhill Cranes were counted where numbers in the past 5 years have been in the thousands. Other below normal numbers were 54 Wild Turkeys (average 98), and 217 Mourning Doves (average 558).

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)(Don Henise)

The was only one glaring miss of species seen regularly on the count. Although being found on 52 of 57 counts, no Ring-necked Pheasants were detected this year. This is part of a continuing trend as the 5 missed years have all been in the last 11 years.

WaterlooCBC-Group(John Scaramucci)

Sixteen participants enjoyed a nice meal at Bob Evans after sunset as we tallied the species seen for the day.  Thanks to all who participated to help make this years count a success. The 2026 Waterloo State Rec Area CBC will be held on Saturday, December 19th. Mark you calendars.

Complete Species List:

Species                  Total
Snow Goose                   1
Canada Goose               970
Trumpeter Swan               8
Mallard                    186
American Black Duck          4
Hooded Merganser             2
Wild Turkey                 54
Rock Pigeon                 91
Mourning Dove              217
Sandhill Crane             494
Ring-billed Gull            16
gull sp.                     2
Great Blue Heron             2
Golden Eagle                 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk           2
Cooper's Hawk                8
accipiter species            2
Northern Harrier             2
Bald Eagle                  20
Red-shouldered Hawk          7
Red-tailed Hawk             41
Rough-legged Hawk            4
Eastern Screech-Owl          5
Great Horned Owl             1
Barred Owl                   1
Belted Kingfisher            4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     7
Red-headed Woodpecker        4
Red-bellied Woodpecker      81
Downy Woodpecker            73
Hairy Woodpecker            18
Pileated Woodpecker         12
Northern Flicker            24
American Kestrel            11
Northern Shrike              1
Blue Jay                   335
American Crow              507
Black-capped Chickadee     216
Tufted Titmouse             74
Horned Lark                  3
Golden-crowned Kinglet      19
White-breasted Nuthatch    127
Red-breasted Nuthatch       10
Brown Creeper               12
Winter Wren                  1
Carolina Wren               10
European Starling         1142
Eastern Bluebird           122
Hermit Thrush                6
American Robin              99
Cedar Waxwing              138
House Sparrow              357
House Finch                198
Purple Finch                10
American Goldfinch         206
Snow Bunting                31
American Tree Sparrow      190
Dark-eyed Junco            601
White-crowned Sparrow        5
White-throated Sparrow      20
Song Sparrow                11
Lincoln's Sparrow            1
Swamp Sparrow                1
Brown-headed Cowbird         2
Common Grackle               1
Northern Cardinal          224
                                                       
                                                       
Number  of species          64
Number of individuals     7055

Dahlem one again hosted our winter Wingspan game event this year. And we got perfect weather for the morning-snow!  Nine JAS members came from literally all points of the compass to join in the fun.  We had cookies, candies, muffins and small sandwiches to keep us fed.  

Two groups were formed and played one round of the game-we are still a bit slow playing.  Penny won at table 1 and Doug was the champion at table 2.  He's so modest, he's just barely in the picture. Just look for the 'BIO" in his  Albion sweatshirt in the pic below.

The ABA interviews the creator of this game a while back and a link to the episode is available on ABA Podcast.

Table 1 (John Scaramucci)

Table 2 (John Scaramucci)

Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 11/24/2025 by Don Henise

(Steve Jerant)

The reports from the greeters at Haehnle Sanctuary over the weekend were that more than 2,000 cranes were observed on Saturday and 2,737 counted on Sunday. For our official count on Monday evening, 3,455 Sandhill Cranes were counted coming in to roost in Mud Lake Marsh. This is the highest count since the banner year of 2012 when we had a record count of 8,177 cranes. All of the counters agreed that we probably missed a lot of cranes as they came in a hurry as the light was failing. We estimated that maybe 200-300 cranes were missed by our clickers.

(Don Henise)

When Robyn and I first arrived at 2:00 pm, we had a fair bit of songbird activity around the hill near the kiosk, the highlight being a Brown Creeper that was inspecting one of the tree trunks in the newly cleared oak savannah area. A pair of Trumpeter Swans circled around the marsh and a nice adult male Northern Harrier worked over the close marsh during the crane flight.

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) (Don Henise)

Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) (Don Henise)

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) (Don Henise)

We tallied a total of 30 bird species for the afternoon and evening. See the eBird checklist linked below.


Total Cranes Roosting:  3455

Counters:   Robyn Henise, Ross Green, Gary Siegrist, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by:  Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S286034976

(Steve Jerant)

The November workday at Haehnle was not the usual invasives removal work a but much more enjoyable and positive event.  Instead of cutting or pulling or spraying, we planted!  Seven volunteers participated along with Chad Machinski from Michigan Audubon to work in the new savanna area near the overlook.

We are planning to seed this area but we decided to plant here as well.  This planting was funded by donations received in memorial from the passing of Helena Robinovitz last year.  The seed plugs will augment the native plants in the area near the Robinovitz Family memorial bench.  Next spring we will be seeding and adding more plants in the grassland in front of the bench.  Our hope is this will become a very beautiful area of the sanctuary for a quiet sit while visiting Haehnle Sanctuary.

These are the species of plants we planted from plugs:

Nodding Wild Onion
Butterfly Weed
Rough Blazing Star
Smooth Aster
Prairie Heart-Leaved Aster
Little Bluestem

(All photos by Sylvia Kay)

Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 11/17/2025 By Don Henise

(Steve Jerant)

Sandhill Cranes roosting in Mud Lake Marsh at Haehnle Sanctuary continue to increase in number. This Monday we counted 1875 cranes flying into roost for the night. The majority flew in just before sunset with some long lines of cranes spreading across the sky. The weather was chilly but not as cold as the previous week with light winds and temps in the upper 30s to low 40s.

Only 22 bird species were observed during the count with waterfowl making up a large portion of those. The full eBird checklist is linked below.

Total Cranes Roosting: 1,875

Counters: Ross Green, Gary Siegrist, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by: Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S284996857

We had some fresh snow on our walk around Haehnle this morning.  While the turnout was a bit sparce, we did manage to get some Bald Eagle and a Harrier.  A few cranes were on the move.   

(Steve Jerant)

eBird checklist available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S285477589

Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 11/10/2025 By Don Henise

Winter made its first venture into southern Michigan over the weekend. For the Monday evening crane count, temps were in the upper 20s and winds were blowing from the northwest making for a cold brisk count.

(Steve Jerant)

Though the counters had frozen toes and fingers by the time the count ended, the weather didn’t deter the cranes with 1,482 counted flying into the sanctuary to roost for the night. However, except for ducks and blackbirds, which were both abundant in the marsh, there were relatively few other birds seen during the count.

Dabbling duck species observed were Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallards, American Black Ducks, Green-winged Teal and our season first Northern Pintails and Northern Shovelers.

The full eBird checklist is linked below.

Total Cranes Roosting: 1,482

Counters: Ross Green, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by: Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S283937986

Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 11/03/2025 By Don Henise

Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) (DonHenise)

Sandhill Crane numbers increased immensely over the past week. Last Monday only 289 stayed to roost in Mud Lake Marsh. This week we had 1363 cranes roosting in Mud Lake Marsh Monday evening. Between 5:00 and 5:30 the cranes came in a rush from all directions. The cranes flew in over the marsh and mingled together, some continuing to other locations, but most settling down and landing.

Since not all the cranes flying in were landing, it was quite difficult to count cranes that evening. We couldn't just count all the cranes flying into the area. We had to wait until they dropped their legs as they came in to land. Kudos to Robyn who took on this task and clicked in all 1363 birds. Actually, she clicked in more than that. We also had cranes pick up out of the marsh and leave, which we had to count and subtract from the total clicked in. Made for an interesting evening and hectic last half hour.

Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii)(DonHenise)

Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) (DonHenise)

Raptors were a highlight during the count. No less than 4 Northern Harriers were working the marsh including our 1st adult silver-gray male for the season, a couple of immature Bald Eagles passed over, a young Cooper's Hawk landed for a minute in the trees in the middle of the prairie. Between crane clicks, Eagle-eye Robyn spotted a light morph Rough-legged Hawk trying to sneak by high overhead. Please see the complete eBird checklist link below.

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)(DonHenise)

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Total Cranes Roosting: 1363

Counters: Robyn Henise, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by: Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S282789453

(DonHenise)

(DonHenise)

JAS Tour of Watkins Lake State Park/Washtenaw County Preserve 11/28/2025

We had a beautiful day for our group of seven to tour this multicounty jewel.  This park system is a Michigan state park in Jackson County and a county preserve at the Washtenaw line.  It makes for interesting birding if you are a lister that likes to manage counties in your eBird data.  So we have posted separate  state and county park lists, below.

Two members of FoWL (Friends of Watkins Lake) joined us for our tour, Sybil Kolon and Sylvia Kay.  Sybil gave the group an overview of this new organization and spoke about their mission to assist in stewardship and advocacy for the properties.  

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)(Don Henise)

After viewing the obligatory Northern Mockingbird that is a yearlong resident, we walked on the east side into the Washtenaw Preserve.  We got two more Mockingbirds as well as Eastern Bluebird. 

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)(Don Henise)

Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)(Don Henise)

Moving into the Washtenaw Preserve, we spotted 3 Fox Sparrows then travelled up to the top of the trail for a great view of the lake and surrounding country.  the color was great.  While there we observed both Purple and House finches working some Eastern red-Cedar trees.

Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)(Don Henise)

From the east side, we moved west then down the road into the middle of the lake for some waterfowl.  We got eleven species of waterfowl, Great Blue heron and Belted Kingfisher.

(Brenda Wineman)

Wild Cucumber (Sylvia Kay)

Watkins Lake Park eBird Checklists:

Michigan SP:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S282140201

Washtenaw CP:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S281800132

Haehnle Sanctuary & 2025 USFWS Crane Count 10/27/2025 By Gary Siegrist

Temperatures in the 50’s and a cool breeze from the east greeted crane counters for the official USFW here at Haehnle Sanctuary. Having arrived at 3 p.m. and counting until 7 p.m. the counters were able to count 289 Sandhill Cranes roosting in Mud Lake Marsh at Haehnle Sanctuary. Two Northern Harriers continually harassed the waterfowl in the marsh most of the evening, putting up good numbers that were seen from the observation hill. Mallards, Ring-necks Ducks, and Green-wing Teal flew around the marsh every time the harriers flew into the marsh. Eagles and Turkey Vultures soared by all evening.

(Gary Siegrist)

Counters: Gary Siegrist, Sandy Leffler , Lathe Claflin

Total Cranes Roosting: 289 (and 145 flybys)

Total Jackson County count by JAS:  2,356

Compiled by: Gary Siegrist

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S281773212

In addition to Haehnle, JAS members also counted in private property north of Haehnle as well as Stony Lake for the official Jackson County survey for the 2025 USFWS crane count..

Property north of Haehnle

Counters: Don Henise, Robyn Henise, & Steve Jerant

Total Cranes Roosting: 1,508

Compiled by: Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S281716815

Stony Lake

Counters: Ross Green & Bill Sonnett

Total Cranes Roosting: 559

Compiled by: Ross Green