Post Crane Count - Count

Given as poor as the weather was on the weekend of the crane count, I decided to head back out into the local marsh this past weekend.

There was more sun, and it was a little warmer. It wasn't raining or snowing. So the weather was much better for birding.

I managed to capture a number of birds with the camera, so I figured I'd share the images here.

There were Wilson's Snipes all over the place. They were winnowing in the air as the males displayed for the females.


I started off by heading north from the parking lot along the Sugar River, when I came across a group of Greater Yellow Legs


At the far northern edge of the SNA, a pair of cranes skirmished with a pair of Canada Geese.


This pair was near the parking area. It was too dark for my initial images to come out well, but on my way back from the north end, the light was much better. I believe these are the two which I almost mistook for large rocks on the morning of the crane count. They were in the same area of prairie.


The highway bisects the marsh separating the north from the south end; a tunnel takes hikers from one end to the other. As I exited the tunnel, there is drainage gulley for the highway. Blue Winged Teal were going for a swim.


On the southern end past the oak stand, this crane wandered alone near the trail.

In the end, I would guess that there are 3 pairs in the marsh and that they are somewhat evenly distributed. What's nice about the month of April is that reeds and grasses haven't really sprung up, so they are fairly easy to spot.