First off, the crane count at Haehnle moves back to Monday evenings starting next Monday, September 26th.

Today was a great day for bird species at Haehnle but not for Sandhill cranes – we found two cranes in the marsh around 5:30 and by the time we left at 6:30 no other cranes had come to Haehnle.

Butterflies were out most of the afternoon. Here’s what we had: Orange Sulphur, Viceroy, Cabbage White, Clouded Sulphur, Eastern Tailed-blue, American Copper, Common Buckeye, Monarch, Silver-spotted Skipper, Pearl Crescent, Variegated Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary and Spicebush Swallowtail.

We also recorded 27 [human] visitors.

Compiler: Robyn Henise

Submitted by Robyn Henise

Crane Count-0

Species count- 36

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Wigeon

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle (2 adults)

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk (we had a mini kettle of 21 birds – more than they recorded at Erie Metro Hawk watch today – they only had 3)

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel (catching dragonflies)

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eastern Phoebe

Blue Jay

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat

Swamp Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

American Goldfinch

The Sandhill Cranes have not begun to use Haehnle as an evening roosting spot but several large flocks of cranes were seen flying around. One flock of 17 flew in overhead of observation hill and there were several young birds calling.

We saw several Buckeye Butterflies and a total of 13 Monarchs flew past observation hill.

Counters: Ross Green, Gary Siegrist, Don and Robyn Henise

Compiler: Don Henise

Submitted by Don Henise

Crane Count-0

Species count- 39

Canada Goose

Trumpeter Swans (2)

Wood Duck

Mallard

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Turkey Vultures (50+)

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

American Kestrel

Great Crested Flycatcher

Yellow-throated Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

House Wren

Eastern Bluebird

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

American Goldfinch

The fall 2016 Sandhill Crane counting season opened officially this evening at the Haehnle Sanctuary. It is very early in the season for the cranes to be gathering but the nice weather brought out the crane counters. A total of 6 cranes were seen at the sanctuary this evening, four of those cranes flew out around 6:00 p.m. 

Counters: Gary Siegrist, Don and Robyn Henise

Compiler:  Don Henise

Submitted by Don & Robyn Henise

Crane Count-06

Species count- 19

Wood Duck

Mallard

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Chimney Swift

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Blue Jay

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Common Yellowthroat

Song Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle 

American Goldfinch.

Lathe Claflin was interviewed for a news story that ran this week on WILX TV.

Video available HERE.

From Lathe Claflin

Report Vandalism at Haehnle Sanctuary

During the past 3 weeks there has been a rash of malicious vandalism at the sanctuary.

• Four bluebird nest boxes, 2 with young birds inside, were ripped off their posts –all babies are gone and presumed dead. This malignant act is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
  
• The beautifully painted Haehnle Introduction sign in the main parking area was spray-painted and covered with feces.
  
• At the kiosk,
  
• The registration box was broken and torn from mounting post.
  
• The email lockbox was broken into and cards scattered on the ground.
  
• Brown paint was used to write on a north side display case.
  
• One of the split rails was pulled from mount and found lying on the ground.
  
• Four other split rails were broken and pulled from their mounts.
  
• The bench near the new observation deck at Eagle Lake was torn from its posts and tossed into the lake. The observation deck itself was defaced.
  
• The sign explaining the restoration work in Bogus Lake Fen was tossed into Eagle Lake.
  
• These acts are senseless, destructive, and pointless. One or more persons are destroying private property at a wild place that is open to the public and enjoyed by hundreds of people every year.
  

This vandalism has been reported to the Blackman Township Police and to the Michigan DNR Conservation Officer. If you see anyone vandalizing any item at Haehnle Sanctuary please call 911 immediately and report them. If you find evidence of vandalism please call Lathe at 517 936-0528.

We appreciate your help.

Report Vandalism at Haehnle Sanctuary

Sandy and I just returned from a trip to Northern Maine, where we had the opportunity to visit Machias Seal Island, a sanctuary for thousands of sea birds, including the sought-after Atlantic puffin, razorbill, a variety of gulls and Arctic terns. Machias Seal Island is located approximately 10 nautical miles southeast of Cutler, Maine and is currently manned by the Canadian Coast Guard, which maintains a lighthouse for sea-going navigation. However, the island is also claimed by the U.S.A. Only two tour operators are allowed to land on the Island; Bold Coast Tours out of Cutler, Maine and Sea Watch Tours out of New Brunswick, Canada. Back in January, we booked our tour (for two July dates, to improve our chances for good weather) through Bold Coast Tours.

Tours to the island are dependent on favorable sea conditions, which could preclude landing on the island, since tour participants must be tendered in to the sloping, concrete dock by a small skiff which is towed out to the island behind the Bold Coast tour vessel, the Barbara Frost, a former 40-foot fishing boat that is piloted by Captain Andy Patterson, a veteran sea captain of 30 years. The trip from Cutler to the island takes about 45 minutes.

The tour group size is limited to 15 individuals. 

Four observation/photo blinds are located near the lighthouse which will accommodate up to four persons in each blind. 

The photography possibilities are simply amazing; in the south blind (my favorite), a sizable rock is located directly in front of the blind and Atlantic puffins and occasionally razorbills are literally within arms length of the blind!! Long telephoto lenses are not required. Ideally, a zoom lens with a range from a normal focal length to perhaps 200 mm is ideal.

Here are several images from the tour, including some of my favorite photo examples of the puffins. They are a delight to watch and photograph!

Doug

We had a beautiful day for the Spring Work-bee at Haehnle on Saturday.  The crews worked on cutting trees in the area being reclaimed from the Glossy Buckthorn.  They also cleared out the wooded section near the parking lot and painting benches.  About 18 folks came out to help with the work.  In addition, we were joined by some Wilson's Snipes and 4 Pectoral Sandpipers in the Sanctuary as well as a flyover by three Great Crested Cormoronts.

Jackson Audubon Society Spring Wildfowl Trip

A group of 14 JAS members toured around Jackson County for the annual wildfowl tour.  We visited Watkins/Thorn, Norvel, Center, and Wamplers Lakes.  Highlights included a view of a maturing harlequin Duck that has been at Michigan Center since last year and a Little Gull on Wamplers Lake.  20 species of wildfowl were recorded including Common Loon and Horned Grebe.

Complete species list of 53 is below.

Common Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Turkey Vulture

Mute Swan

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

American Black Duck

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

American Widgeon

Canvasback

Ring-necked Duck

Common Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Halequin Duck

Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Bald Eagle

Cooper's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Wild Turkey

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

Little Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Forsters Tern

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Red-headed Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Horned Lark

Tree Swallow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

American Robin

European starling

Northern Cardinal

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Pine Siskin

House Finch

House Sparrow

Recent UN-sponsored report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), concludes that 40% of invertebrate and 16% of vertebrate pollinator species are facing extinction.  Audubon's commitment to protection and development of natural habitats, such as Haehnle and Kate Palmer Sanctuaries, are helping with this problem.

See stories from NPR and New York Times as well as the IPBES news release.

Corrie Navis, a masters student at EMU, is using Haehnle Sanctuary for her research. 

She is investigating stress levels of American Goldfinch in urban and rural environment. She setup a feeder trap at the Sanctuary off Wooster Rd. on Sunday, 07 February to capture some birds.

The photos show Corrie with one of the birds she collected from the trap.  

The bird is captured and a blood draw is done within three minutes of capture.  The hormone cortisol is collected at that time and then 30 minutes later.  The levels of this hormone are then measured and compared. While captured, she also measures and photographs the specimen. Finally she bands the finch before release.

Research is one of the goals of the Phyllis Haehnle Sanctuary so we are pleased to provide a venue for this student to do her study.