We did not do an official count tonight at the Sanctuary.   I’m submitting a count I did last night while working as a weekend greeter. 

The weather cleared in time for some visitors to come out and enjoy the view and get to see some cranes come into the marsh. We had three flyovers totaling about 14 birds from a grand total of only 27.  A bit more than half, 18 roosted in the marsh overnight.

Crane counters:   Steve Jerant
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count:  18 (27 total observed)
Species count:  16

18 Canada Goose

2 Trumpeter Swan

35 Mallard

12 American Black Duck

27 Sandhill Crane -- 18 in marsh

6 Ring-billed Gull

1 Northern Harrier

1 Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk

1 Bald Eagle -- Immature

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

3 Northern Flicker

1 Blue Jay

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

2 American Tree Sparrow

5 White-throated Sparrow

75 Red-winged Blackbird -- 2 groups

Number of Taxa: 16

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S97902304

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

Seven JAS members visited the Dahlem Center Tuesday for some late fall/early winter birdwatching.  It started a bit cold but the sun broke through after an hour or so and helped with lighting up the forest.  Dahlem provided us with a good mix of habitats, including grassland, conifer & hardwood forests and wetland. 

In the northern section there is a good population of Eastern Wahoo, a species of native burningbush (Euonymus atropurpureus).  

American Tree Sparrow were there along with lots of nuthatches.  The prairie opened up for us to see a pair of Red Tail Hawks soaring.  Moving the reflection pool boardwalk, what is that, an early snowy owl?....

...nevermind, one of the kids must have made this snowman.

Our next tour will be Haehnle Sanctuary on December 07. 

Species list:

2 Sandhill Crane

3 Red-tailed Hawk

3 Red-bellied Woodpecker

6 Downy Woodpecker

1 Hairy Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

2 Blue Jay

8 American Crow

7 Black-capped Chickadee

3 Tufted Titmouse

3 Golden-crowned Kinglet 

10 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

8 Eastern Bluebird

5 Cedar Waxwing

1 House Sparrow

7 American Goldfinch

3 American Tree Sparrow

1 Northern Cardinal

Number of Taxa: 19

Checklist available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S97666421

Tonight was overcast and we saw little activity. Only 8 cranes spotted in two groups, none will be roosting.  Two Northern Harriers are still working the marsh and many ducks remain in the open water.  We had two small groups of starlings and blackbirds.  It snowed yesterday and a little remains on the ground.  But it will burn off in the next few days and we expect temperatures to be in the high 30’s so we’ll likely count next week.

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

Crane Count:  0 (8 total observed)
Species count:  21

22 Canada Goose

4 American Wigeon

200 Mallard

4 American Black Duck

30 Ring-necked Duck

4 Hooded Merganser

8 Sandhill Crane

2 Northern Harrier

1 Bald Eagle

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

3 Northern Flicker

3 Blue Jay

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

20 European Starling

2 Eastern Bluebird

16 American Robin

2 Dark-eyed Junco

1 White-throated Sparrow

25 Red-winged Blackbird

Number of Taxa: 21

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S97642896

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

It was a lovely warm afternoon for our first count under Standard Time.  The temperature was great and no mosquitos.  Also, no cranes, staying overnight anyway.  We did count 43 cranes, 8 of which were in the marsh but left before sundown.  Even though the count was low, 18 of those birds did fly over the Harold Wing Overlook so we could get a good view of these Sandhill Cranes we’re always talking about.  I did not hear any juveniles in those fly-bys.

The ducks were very active, and we counted 8 species of waterbirds.  The raptor activity was good with an early sighting of several Bald Eagles then a low flyover right as we were leaving. 

Cranes are active in the surrounding areas, including good numbers (over 1000) in the Hawkins/Dalton Rds. Areas west of the Sanctuary.

Crane counters:   Ross Green, Gary Siegrist, Don & Robin Henise, and Steve Jerant
Compiler:  Steve Jerant
Submitted by Steve Jerant

Crane Count:  0 (43 total observed)
Species count:  32

50 Canada Goose

30 Wood Duck

12 Gadwall

3 American Wigeon

3 Green-winged Teal

100 Ring-necked Duck

1 Pied-billed Grebe

5 American Coot

43 Sandhill Crane

3 Northern Harrier

6 Bald Eagle -- 2 in marsh, 3 flying by inc. 2 immature plus one flyover as we were leaving

3 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

2 Northern Flicker

2 Blue Jay

10 American Crow

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

300 European Starling

9 Eastern Bluebird

10 American Robin

60 Cedar Waxwing

5 House Finch

3 American Goldfinch

2 White-throated Sparrow

1 Song Sparrow

700 Red-winged Blackbird

7 Rusty Blackbird

27 Common Grackle

1 Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 Northern Cardinal

Number of Taxa: 32

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S97326016

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

Five members of JAS spend a beautiful autumn morning at Watkins Lake SP looking for waterfowl. We were not disappointed.  Thirteen species of waterfowl were spotted.  Lots of the usual suspects at this time and place including lots of Canada Goose, Ring Neck and Ruddy Ducks.  Redheads and Canvasbacks were there as well and gave us some opportunity to compare these two species. 

Kingfishers and herons were active so the fishing was good as well.  The color was excellent as well and we had some nice views of the changing landscape as the clouds broke and lit up some sections of the park.

In addition to our avian friends, Gary Siegrist showed us a growth of American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). Not Oriental Bittersweet, the invasive, but the native species.  This is not found very often so it was good to get familiar with this species. It has similar persistent red berries with a orange capsule, but they are clumped at the terminal, not throughout the branch as in the invasive.  If you'd like for information on identification see this excellent two page identification guide available from the USGS.

All photos Steve Jerant

See our trip eBird checklist.

600 Canada Goose

5 Wood Duck

4 Northern Shoveler

40 Mallard

1 Northern Pintail

31 Canvasback -- Individually counted. Outnumbered Redheads considerably.

6 Redhead

800 Ring-necked Duck

3 Lesser Scaup

17 Hooded Merganser

300 Ruddy Duck -- Large numbers estimated mixed in with many Ring Billed ducks.

20 Pied-billed Grebe

4 Mourning Dove

50 American Coot

4 Sandhill Crane

4 Bonaparte's Gull

10 Ring-billed Gull

4 Great Blue Heron

10 Turkey Vulture

1 Cooper's Hawk -- Spotted by Gary

2 Belted Kingfisher

3 Red-bellied Woodpecker

5 Blue Jay

5 Black-capped Chickadee

1 Tufted Titmouse

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

30 European Starling

1 Eastern Bluebird

30 American Robin

1 House Finch

17 American Goldfinch

3 Dark-eyed Junco

30 Red-winged Blackbird

Number of Taxa: 33

Tonight, the Hahenle team participated in the annual US Fish & Wildlife Service crane count.  This helps to provide the USFWS with the best estimate of size and trend of the Eastern Population of Sandhill Cranes. 

Gary Siegrist ran solo tonight at Haehnle and saw just 13 flybys and no cranes roosting tonight.  He did get a Merlin as well as a Rail species! 

Ross Green and Lathe Claflin counted on Hawkins Road.  They had a busy end of night on their two sections and counted 725 cranes.  (Ross reports that there were 381 last night at Stony Lake in Napoleon). 

Ron Hoffman and I counted at Dalton Rd. overlooking the prison property to the west.  We had a lot of continuous activity with cranes coming into the wet area and also going out.  Our “outie” count was high at 817, but the cranes came pouring in during the last moments before it got dark.  We counted 1,975 coming in so netted 1,158 roosting in the wetland this evening.

We also saw hundreds of cranes feeding in the surrounding fields on Hawkins and Dalton Roads before we started to count.  Cranes are in the area, but with the high water in the Sanctuary our roosting numbers continue to be low.

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

Crane Count:  0 (13 total observed)
Species count:  38

Trumpeter Swan 1

Wood Duck 6

Blue-winged Teal 7

Gadwall 8

American Wigeon 5

Mallard 120

American Black Duck 12

Green-winged Teal 3

Ring-necked Duck 135

Pied-billed Grebe 1

Mourning Dove 1

American Coot 123

Sandhill Crane 15

Northern Harrier 2

Bald Eagle 1

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Eastern Screech-Owl 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 2

Downy Woodpecker 1

Hairy Woodpecker 1

Pileated Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 2

Merlin 1

Blue Jay 2

American Crow 2

European Starling 10

Eastern Bluebird 3

American Robin 12

Cedar Waxwing 55

House Sparrow 3

American Goldfinch 3

White-throated Sparrow 5

Song Sparrow 1

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

Swamp Sparrow 2

Red-winged Blackbird 135

Rusty Blackbird 2

Gary's eBird checklist available HERE 

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

It was a blustery afternoon on the lookout today.  We observed two small groups of cranes for a total of 9 individuals.  None of them will be spending the night in the Sanctuary.  High wind, rain, and low visibility helped keep our species count down.

 

There was a lot of duck activity and we got one lone Great Egret roosting in Mud Lake Marsh.  A small group (for starlings) did a quick murmuration for us before settling down for the evening.

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

Crane Count:  0 (9 total observed)
Species count:  27

23 Canada Goose

4 Wood Duck

14 Gadwall

20 American Wigeon

200 Mallard

8 American Black Duck

2 Ring-necked Duck

1 Mourning Dove

25 American Coot

9 Sandhill Crane -- 0 in the marsh

1 Great Egret

2 Northern Harrier

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 Blue Jay

16 American Crow

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

150 European Starling

3 Eastern Bluebird

170 American Robin

9 Cedar Waxwing

5 sparrow sp.

300 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Rusty Blackbird

Number of Taxa: 27

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96707055

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

Well, we doubled our count of cranes from last week to 10.  That said, we are not seeing many cranes in the area during the day in other areas near the Sanctuary.  Families of 2 or 3 and small groups are being observed but no large gatherings yet.  The field crops have not all been harvested, and it has been quite warm. 

But when the crane counts are low we can watch all the other bird activity from the overlook and the trails.  There were a good variety of other species groups: ducks & water birds-11; sparrows & finches-8; raptors & shrike-8.

 Photo: Ross Green

This is the second week in a row having seen 5 Northern Harriers.  Our Northern Shrike is back so we are hoping we’ll be seeing him more as things cool down.

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

Crane Count:  10 (18 total observed)
Species count: 

50 species

92 Canada Goose

50 Wood Duck

5 Northern Shoveler

2 Gadwall

2 American Wigeon

28 Mallard

3 American Black Duck

3 Northern Pintail

10 Ring-necked Duck

2 Pied-billed Grebe

1 Mourning Dove

11 American Coot

18 Sandhill Crane -- 10 in marsh

1 Great Blue Heron

2 Great Egret

3 Turkey Vulture

1 Osprey -- Flying high over

5 Northern Harrier

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Cooper's Hawk

3 Bald Eagle

3 Red-shouldered Hawk

6 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Belted Kingfisher

2 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 Northern Shrike

12 Blue Jay

51 American Crow

1 Black-capped Chickadee

1 Tufted Titmouse

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

1 Carolina Wren

16 European Starling

12 Eastern Bluebird

47 American Robin

3 Cedar Waxwing

1 House Finch

1 American Goldfinch

1 Field Sparrow

7 White-crowned Sparrow

2 White-throated Sparrow

8 Song Sparrow

1 Lincoln's Sparrow

8 Swamp Sparrow

1000 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Rusty Blackbird

5 Yellow-rumped Warbler

Number of Taxa: 50

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96406015

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

Jackson Audubon opposes Sandhill Crane status change to non-protected species in Michigan.

Join Michigan and Jackson Audubon to maintain Sandhill Crane Status as a Federally-Protected, Non-Game Species.

From Michigan Audubon:

Michigan Audubon’s leadership, chapters, members, and supporters have steadily opposed repeated proposals to remove federal protections and hunt the sandhill crane. We believe the majority of Michigan residents would like to continue to see the Sandhill Crane protected as a traditional non-game (migratory) bird species in Michigan, too. We urge you to share your opinions about this issue to ensure more voices are heard.

Conservation groups like Michigan Audubon have been speaking out against short-sighted, special interest (sport shooting) proposals for several years. “Claims made by proponents of a proposed crane hunt fail to understand key differences and data about migratory population ecology, reproductive biology, and wildlife management from a sustainability perspective,” said Heather Good, Michigan Audubon’s Executive Director. “We ought to reinforce, not remove, federal protections this bird has earned over the last century. It’s time that our state legislative leaders step up to the plate and make better, sounder, more balanced decisions for the sustainable future of Michigan’s rich natural history–for people and wildlife alike.”

Read the complete Michigan Audubon statement and see how you can contact the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

Only 5 cranes were observed and none of them overnighted in the marsh.

Crane counters:   Ross Green & Gary Siegrist
Compiler:  Ross Green
Submitted by Ross Green

Crane Count:  0 (5a total observed)
Species count:  31

31 species

Canada Goose 1

Trumpeter Swan 3

Wood Duck 37

Blue-winged Teal 35

Mallard 2

Mourning Dove 1

Sandhill Crane 5

Great Blue Heron 4

Great Egret 36

Northern Harrier 5

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Downy Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 1

Blue Jay 2

American Crow 3

Black-capped Chickadee 1

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

European Starling 1

Eastern Bluebird 2

American Robin 20

Cedar Waxwing 5

Field Sparrow 1

White-crowned Sparrow 3

White-throated Sparrow 2

Song Sparrow 8

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

Swamp Sparrow 4

Red-winged Blackbird 320

Common Yellowthroat 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96027407    

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