It takes but a moment for the birder's brain to go "large, lanky, slow-flapping grayish bird....Great Blue?...wait...no,...Sandhill Crane!" And that was the sequence for all of us looking skyward on this morning's walk at the Beanery as three cranes flew overhead. Soon the red crown became apparent, then the birds disappeared toward the State Park and reportedly continued out over the bay. Though sandhill cranes may live 35 years in the wild, they take two to eight years to sexually mature and then have low rates of reproductive success. Following a precipitous decline in the first half of the 20th century, crane populations have stabilized in most areas with appropriate management. Six of the nine subspecies are known to migrate, with birds from breeding areas in the northeastern US, Canada and the Great Lakes region using the Atlantic Flyway. Leaders: Kathy & Roger Horn, and Deb Payson.
57 species (+1 other taxa)
Snow Goose 15
Canada Goose 9
Gadwall 9
Mallard 13
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 5
Turkey Vulture 30
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 5
Sandhill Crane 3
American Woodcock 1
Herring Gull (American) 2
Mourning Dove 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
American Kestrel 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 6
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 3
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 1
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 28
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 150
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 300
Cedar Waxwing 4
Palm Warbler (Western) 1
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 2
Vesper Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 16
Swamp Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 12
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 14
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 80
Common Grackle 18
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 9
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
