Beverlybaynes
Mod Squad
What a very special day this has been!
Three friends and I left Fort Wayne about 10:30 this morning, a brilliantly sunny but cold day, to make the 125 mile drive to Jasper-Pulaski FWA in northwestern Indiana for the annual Sandhill Crane migration spectacle. It was terribly cold when we left, about 20F, up from 13F at sunrise.
We saw about 13 Red-tailed Hawks on the ride over.
Our first 'real' stop was in the small town of Rochester, along Lake Manitou, where we scoped the first Common Loons and Buffleheads of the winter, along with dozens and dozens of American Coots.
After a quick lunch, we headed on over to JP, where we first made a very quick stop at the large marshy field that is the first roost of the evening for the cranes. It was about 1:30p and there were perhaps 500+ cranes there.
We drove on north, parked, and walked the Marsh Observation Trail about a mile and a half to a small tower that overlooks a sizeable marshy lake. The sun was still quite bright (fortunately it had warmed to about 35-40F by that time!) and since all the ducks and waterbirds were to the west, everything we saw was in silhouette. We were able to specifically ID a couple of Great Blue Herons, Mallard, and maaaaybe a Semi-Palmated Sandpiper. A nearby dead tree was home to 3-4 Red-Headed Woodpeckers, juvies and adults who were very active -- flycatching, sunning themselves, and generally chasing away any other birds who came near.
The walk along this trail also produced Cedar Waxwings, Downy, Red-bellied and Hairy Woodpeckers, Juncos, Cardinals and numerous Blue Jays.
It was now getting on to 4p, so time to head back to the big platform for the big show of the day -- the Sandhill Cranes coming in for their first roost of the evening.
The count posted earlier in the week had estimated that approxmately 16,000 Sandhills were there -- and it's not even the peak yet!
My friends had dropped me off at the handicapped parking area, as my leg was acting up quite a bit, before driving over to the other parking lot about a 1/4 mile away, so I was up on the platform about 10 minutes before they were.
When I got up there, I spotted a fellow we had talked to earlier in the day, who was there with some huge scope. I walked over to say hi, and he replied, "Look right over there."
I turned, and even without the benefit of binoculars, I saw a . . . .
I nearly fell off the platform!!!!!!!
Now, Dennis, I KNOW I shouldn't be counting this bird -- the DNR guy who came up on the platform a little later said they had gotten numbers off his leg band, and this bird was from the Operation Migration Class of 2001. He and a buddy had arrived on Friday night, and had been seen Saturday evening as well.
And there he was in all his glory -- obviously larger than the Sandhills, at least when he stood up straight -- and very brightly white.
I had always thought that any opportunity of seeing one would probably just happen quite by chance, after much scanning of flocks and flocks of Sandhills, trying to winkle one out of the crush. But this guy was OBVIOUS!! Stood out like sore thumb!
He stayed very much to himself, and put on quite a show, walking across the field, avoiding the other cranes, til he joined a small group of Sandhills and started working a small ditch for food.
In the meantime, the sun was starting to head to the horizon (the platform faces the west) and the Sandhills were starting to flock into the marsh.
You can stand there and see them fly in from the northwest, for the most part (many fewer from the east, flying in directly over your head). And we did for nearly two hours. The closer dusk came, the more flocks came in. You could see thousands with the naked eye, but put your binoculars up, and, looking off into the distance, see many thousands more heading in, in innumerable skeins and strings that stretched across the horizon. The bugling that is so unique to the Sandhills becomes nearly deafening -- not that we cared!
Also out in the field, we picked out an occasional Killdeer, plus bunches of White-tailed Deer. Hunting is allowed at JP, but the deer have learned that this field is safe territory for them. There were two of the largest bucks I have ever seen -- one was at least a 12-pointer -- chasing does about, looking to get some. It IS the rutting season, after all, and those bucks were definitely in rut!
The platform was quite crowded as well -- and the parking lot was filled with license plates from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ontario, and I don't where all, plus dozens and dozens of cars with Indiana plates.
One young man wandered about the platform, notepad in hand, looking fairly bored. He finally stopped and starting talking to John and me, asking questions about the cranes, especially the Whooper, and then got all existential -- "Why birds?". Turns out he's reporter for the Chicago Tribune who had read about the glories of JP earlier in the week and decided it would make an interesting story. If the story does appear, it will probably be in next Sunday's paper, in the "Q" section -- whatever that is!
So, as I said earlier, I KNOW the ABA (and Gen. Dennis of the Listing Police) would no more allow this Whooper on a life list than they would a cockatiel from a local breeder, but doggone it all! I've seen a WHOOPER -- and I'm never gonna forget it!!
Now THIS is why we go birding!!!
Three friends and I left Fort Wayne about 10:30 this morning, a brilliantly sunny but cold day, to make the 125 mile drive to Jasper-Pulaski FWA in northwestern Indiana for the annual Sandhill Crane migration spectacle. It was terribly cold when we left, about 20F, up from 13F at sunrise.
We saw about 13 Red-tailed Hawks on the ride over.
Our first 'real' stop was in the small town of Rochester, along Lake Manitou, where we scoped the first Common Loons and Buffleheads of the winter, along with dozens and dozens of American Coots.
After a quick lunch, we headed on over to JP, where we first made a very quick stop at the large marshy field that is the first roost of the evening for the cranes. It was about 1:30p and there were perhaps 500+ cranes there.
We drove on north, parked, and walked the Marsh Observation Trail about a mile and a half to a small tower that overlooks a sizeable marshy lake. The sun was still quite bright (fortunately it had warmed to about 35-40F by that time!) and since all the ducks and waterbirds were to the west, everything we saw was in silhouette. We were able to specifically ID a couple of Great Blue Herons, Mallard, and maaaaybe a Semi-Palmated Sandpiper. A nearby dead tree was home to 3-4 Red-Headed Woodpeckers, juvies and adults who were very active -- flycatching, sunning themselves, and generally chasing away any other birds who came near.
The walk along this trail also produced Cedar Waxwings, Downy, Red-bellied and Hairy Woodpeckers, Juncos, Cardinals and numerous Blue Jays.
It was now getting on to 4p, so time to head back to the big platform for the big show of the day -- the Sandhill Cranes coming in for their first roost of the evening.
The count posted earlier in the week had estimated that approxmately 16,000 Sandhills were there -- and it's not even the peak yet!
My friends had dropped me off at the handicapped parking area, as my leg was acting up quite a bit, before driving over to the other parking lot about a 1/4 mile away, so I was up on the platform about 10 minutes before they were.
When I got up there, I spotted a fellow we had talked to earlier in the day, who was there with some huge scope. I walked over to say hi, and he replied, "Look right over there."
I turned, and even without the benefit of binoculars, I saw a . . . .
W H O O P I N G C R A N E!!!!!!!
I nearly fell off the platform!!!!!!!
Now, Dennis, I KNOW I shouldn't be counting this bird -- the DNR guy who came up on the platform a little later said they had gotten numbers off his leg band, and this bird was from the Operation Migration Class of 2001. He and a buddy had arrived on Friday night, and had been seen Saturday evening as well.
And there he was in all his glory -- obviously larger than the Sandhills, at least when he stood up straight -- and very brightly white.
I had always thought that any opportunity of seeing one would probably just happen quite by chance, after much scanning of flocks and flocks of Sandhills, trying to winkle one out of the crush. But this guy was OBVIOUS!! Stood out like sore thumb!
He stayed very much to himself, and put on quite a show, walking across the field, avoiding the other cranes, til he joined a small group of Sandhills and started working a small ditch for food.
In the meantime, the sun was starting to head to the horizon (the platform faces the west) and the Sandhills were starting to flock into the marsh.
You can stand there and see them fly in from the northwest, for the most part (many fewer from the east, flying in directly over your head). And we did for nearly two hours. The closer dusk came, the more flocks came in. You could see thousands with the naked eye, but put your binoculars up, and, looking off into the distance, see many thousands more heading in, in innumerable skeins and strings that stretched across the horizon. The bugling that is so unique to the Sandhills becomes nearly deafening -- not that we cared!
Also out in the field, we picked out an occasional Killdeer, plus bunches of White-tailed Deer. Hunting is allowed at JP, but the deer have learned that this field is safe territory for them. There were two of the largest bucks I have ever seen -- one was at least a 12-pointer -- chasing does about, looking to get some. It IS the rutting season, after all, and those bucks were definitely in rut!
The platform was quite crowded as well -- and the parking lot was filled with license plates from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ontario, and I don't where all, plus dozens and dozens of cars with Indiana plates.
One young man wandered about the platform, notepad in hand, looking fairly bored. He finally stopped and starting talking to John and me, asking questions about the cranes, especially the Whooper, and then got all existential -- "Why birds?". Turns out he's reporter for the Chicago Tribune who had read about the glories of JP earlier in the week and decided it would make an interesting story. If the story does appear, it will probably be in next Sunday's paper, in the "Q" section -- whatever that is!
So, as I said earlier, I KNOW the ABA (and Gen. Dennis of the Listing Police) would no more allow this Whooper on a life list than they would a cockatiel from a local breeder, but doggone it all! I've seen a WHOOPER -- and I'm never gonna forget it!!
Now THIS is why we go birding!!!
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Great to read :t:
