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HAEHNLE SANCTUARY FALL CRANE COUNTS

Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary conducts Crane Counts at the sanctuary starting the first Monday after Labor Day and every Monday thereafter until the Sandhill Cranes depart for the winter.  The counts start around 3:30 PM. This page contains current and historic count data.

These reports were from theFALL OF 2012.  we WILL RESUME COUNTS AGAIN THIS fall, 2013.

Crane counts, reports and sightings for the 201`2 season. Detail Crane counts for this season and the four previous years. Current map of locations of  Cranes seen feeding near Haehnle Sanctuary. Peak Crane counts 1941 to the present. Detail Crane counts 1969 to present.

We normally have many Greater Sandhill Cranes stop at our sanctuary in the fall. In the last few years we have been fortunate to have have a Whooping Crane visit as well .(The Whooping Crane is observably larger than the Sandhill, mostly white with black wing tips and black on front of head and beak.)

If you spot the Whooping Crane, please do not disturb him and do not trespass on private land to get a better view.

DETAILED CRANE COUNTS FAR THIS SEASON AND THE FOR PREVIOUS YEARS.

CRANE  COUNTS, REPORTS AND SIGHTINGS FOR THIS SEASON  (FALL2012)

CRANE COUNT:  2,216  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, DECEMBER  17, 2012.

2,200 sandhills still at Haehnle

Only a week before Christmas Eve, 2,216 sandhill cranes are still roosting at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary. Like other recent counts, the majority (over 80 percent) flew in during the hour straddling sunset tonight (December 17).

After sunset, the noticeably smaller silhouette a cackling goose was fourth from the front of a ragged V of about 100 Canada geese flying in to roost. The local pair of trumpeter swans was in sharp contrast to the dark background when they flew in low from the west and a flock of about a dozen robins flew overhead.

Tonight was our last formal crane count for the season. Thank you for reading our posts and a special thank you to those of you who visited Haehnle Sanctuary.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head), Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  2,802 SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, DECEMBER  10, 2012.

Some sandhills still at Haehnle

Volunteers counted 2,802 sandhill craned flying in to roost at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary tonight (December 10).  Over 80 percent arrived in the hour straddling sunset.  While the total was the lowest in nearly two months, it extended Haehnle’s December record to 8,342.  The 1998 crew (likely Hugh Zernickow, leader, and Gary Siegrist) counted 4,742 cranes on three December evenings.  The team’s year-end 2012 count, next Monday, December 17, should move the bar even higher.

Standing atop a gentle hill in low- to mid-30s temperatures and sporadic northwest winds is tolerable when birders see a good variety of birds.  A thousand or so cranes in the Haehnle marsh, including a few still looking for a landing spot, ignored an immature bald eagle that flew across the east boundary.  Two weeks ago, a distant golden eagle flushed the 20 cranes in the marsh.  It is amazing how cranes know that they are dinner to one eagle and yard ornaments to another.  A Cooper’s hawk perched on a tree about 1,500 feet away, four robins perched on another, nearer tree, a pair of trumpeter swans broadcasted their northeast-to-south flyby, and a northern shrike made its weekly appearance.
 

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head), Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  5,540 SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, DECEMBER  3, 2012.

Red crossbill, peepers, tons of cranes at Haehnle Dec. 3

Counters logged more sandhill cranes than any December count on record at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary tonight (December 3), but the unusual offered a strange brew.  None of the 10 counters and guests could recall seeing a red crossbill and hearing spring peepers on the same day in Jackson County.  The crossbill call alerted the experts, who watched it fly overhead while the peeper peeped about a half dozen times between 4 – 5:30 p.m.

The sandhill crane count “slipped” to 5,540 birds.  The total was double the previous December record (2,220 set December 7, 1998) and would have been the all-time record before last month.  Sandhills arrived after the fog lifted enough to see across the sanctuary’s Mud Lake marsh and 90 percent landed in the last hour before sunset.  Lathe Claflin picked out a cackling goose near the end of a flight of 50-plus Canada geese for the evening’s other highlight.  The next seven days’ temperatures should be warm enough to keep the marsh thawed until we count cranes again next Monday, December 10.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Lathe Claflin, Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  6,927 SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER  26 2012.

6,927 normal sandhills, 1 near albino, at Haehnle Nov. 26

The 23 visitors and five volunteer counters were rewarded eventually for enduring barely above-freezing temperatures at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary tonight (November 26).  In the early evening, flocks of sandhill cranes would fly in, check out the mostly frozen over marsh, and then turn and fly away.  Cranes finally begin landing after 4 p.m. in what little open water remained.

Over 3,000 sandhill cranes arrived in the half hour before sunset (5:07) and nearly 3,000 arrived in the half-hour after sunset.  Uncounted cranes were still coming in when we left at 5:50 p.m.  The flush of late arrivals pushed the night’s total to 6,928, the third highest Haehnle count ever recorded.  With little open water, many cranes were standing on the ice as darkness engulfed the marsh.  The 29,000 cranes that we counted on four Mondays this November were over 50 percent more than on the four Mondays in November 2010, the month of previous records.

A near-albino sandhill crane, which several craniacs saw after Bill Wells reported it earlier today, was among the early birds that flew a few laps around the marsh and then left.  Don Henise opined that the bird was leucistic rather than a true albino and posted his opinion and links to three crisp images on this site earlier tonight.

A high, distant golden eagle may have been close enough to cause the 20 cranes remaining in the marsh to leave at 3:15 p.m.  Fai Chan spotted a northern shrike in the trees just behind the split-rail fence.  The whooping crane that roosted at Haehnle Sunday evening and which spent parts of the past three days in cut cornfields along M-106 north of Parnall Road was a no show or was among the after dark arrivals.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Lathe Claflin, Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  8,177 SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER  19, 2012.

Haehnle sandhill record broken again

Sandhill cranes flying in to the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary had no sympathy for five busy counters tonight (November 19).  They counted a new all-time record of 8,177 cranes coming to roost.  Using visitor Bill Wells’ logic, the record was roughly 40 tons of sandhills.  This count broke old record of 7,483 set two weeks ago.

Nearly 6,500 cranes arrived from 4:55 – 5:25 p.m.  “It’s like when you were a kid and everyone had to be home before the streetlights came on,” said visitor Bob Ochs as the almost continuous river of sandhills flowed into the sanctuary’s Mud Lake marsh.  Counter Robyn Henise counted nearly 2,100 herself and said that she missed “a gob of cranes” when a flock was just too thick to see all the individual birds.  Most cranes flew in from the west and arrived about a half-mile from counters.

Tonight’s highlight of the 24 identified species not named Grus Canadensis was a “blue goose,” a dark phase snow goose that arrived just before sundown when there was enough light for experts to see it’s darker-than-normal color.  We also saw a sharp-shinned hawk soaring beyond the east side of the marsh, the noisy arrival of the local pair of trumpeter swans, and an American woodcock.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Lathe Claflin, Robyn and Don Henise, Ron Hoffman
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  6,490 SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER  12, 2012.

Golden and bald eagles, tundra swans, fewer cranes at Haehnle

Tonight’s (November 12) count of sandhill cranes flying in to roost at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary slipped by nearly a thousand birds, but the 26 visitors and six volunteers were happy, if chilly, counters. The 6,490 sandhills were second only to last Monday’s sanctuary record of 7,483 cranes. Cranes began trickling in from the northeast toward the azure blue water in the sanctuary’s Mud Lake marsh. From 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., however, most of the nearly 5,000 arriving cranes came from the west and kept counters pleasantly busy. After sunset, a large, orange cloud backlit the last arrivals.

The biggest thrill for the counters may have been seeing 11 flocks of tundra swans. Robyn Henise would spot or hear a distant flock and husband Don would start clicking his counter. By about 4 p.m., he had recorded 402 clicks. A flock north of the sanctuary contained 92-plus swans. This and another flock remained too distant to pick out all of the individual birds, so Don counted only those he could see clearly. A group of 42, however, flew nearly directly overhead in a neat V formation.

Another season highlight was the appearance of an immature golden eagle, its distinctive white under-wing feathers almost reflecting the low sun. It was the second golden eagle that Don has spotted at the sanctuary in three days. One immature and two (or one if the same bird circled back) mature bald eagles flew across the marsh and another adult soared off to the northwest. One of the half-dozen red-tailed hawks passed just beyond the prairie and flashed its bright white undersides. A northern harrier, also hunting just beyond the prairie, rounded out the evening’s raptors. A cackling goose among a flock of Canada geese rounded out the unusual birds.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise, Ron Hoffman
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  7,483  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER  5, 2012.

Haehnle sandhill record shattered

Four volunteers needed limber thumbs and sturdy mechanical counters this evening (November 5) at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary.  In the half-hour from 5 – 5:30 p.m., 6,242 cranes flew in to roost in the sanctuary’s Mud Lake marsh.  This 30-minute onslaught alone shattered the one-day record of 5,523 set November 15, 2010.  After a few birds and only one large flock arrived earlier, the sky exploded with cranes beginning at 5:05.  Cranes arrived in nearly nonstop waves, some with over 100 birds. Many passed over or near the 74 visitors and many of those flocks had the squeaky calls of first-year cranes.

In the last 15 minutes (5:30 – 5:45) another 923 landed to bring the night’s total to 7,483.  With a 5:24 p.m. sunset, “You need runway lights for the late arrivals,” said a visitor who identified himself as Bob.  A cacophony of crane calls as we left matched the spectacle we had witnessed.

Relegated to an afterthought were respectable displays by other bird species.  A second- or third-year bald eagle circled over the roosting cranes, which ignored it, before landing on the far side of the marsh.  A red-tailed hawk passed by in front of us, its white breast shining like a mirror, while another, darker red tail nearly flew overhead before banking away in the last 20 feet.  An immature northern harrier hunted just beyond the prairie and three northern flickers landed in one tree on the near side of the marsh.  At 5:50 p.m., a swarm of probably 1,000-plus Canada geese began arriving

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise, Lathe Claflin, Ron Hoffman
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  5,012  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2012

Fifty visitors who braved the cold temperatures and strong winds this evening at Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary were treated to a flight of 5,012 Sandhill Cranes, the second highest count ever recorded at the sanctuary. Several hundred cranes delighted the viewers by flying directly over the Harold Wing Overlook. The record count is 5,523 recorded on November 15th, 2010. Assuming that the crane flights continue increasing each week as they have been, we expect to surpass that record in the next couple of weeks.

The high winds limited the total number of other species observed, but 2 male Northern Harriers and an adult Bald Eagle were highlights. Several observers saw a few Wild Turkeys fly up into a roost tree on the west side of the prairie.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE  COUNTS, REPORTS AND SIGHTINGS FOR THIS SEASON  (FALL2012)

CRANE COUNT:  3,670   SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2012

Haehnle crane count keeps surging

Sandhill cranes continue roosting at a record pace at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary. Tonight (October 22), 3,670 cranes checked into Haehnle’s Mud Lake marsh. This total is nearly 1,100 more cranes than last Monday’s weekly count and over 1,000 more than the comparable date from the record setting 2010 season. Sandhills started the evening with an impressive 438 birds in a few minutes at 4:20 p.m., slacked to dribs and drabs for the next hour, and then over 2,500 poured in between 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Most birds came in from the west over Eagle Lake.

With lots of sandhills, few of the 67 visitors were disappointed the lower number (35) of other bird species and no one complained about the shirtsleeve weather. We saw an adult male and a juvenile female northern harrier and nine greater yellowlegs flying over the marsh and the usual collection of ducks on the water. Canada geese arrived in much larger numbers (1,500 or more) and earlier than past weeks. Large, mixed flocks of geese and sandhills kept counters on their toes. In the last half-hour before sunset, the chatter of thousands of roosting black birds, mostly red-winged blackbirds, in the marsh was louder than the cranes’ calls. The Le Conte’s sparrow that Don Henise found several times yesterday was nowhere to be seen or heard today.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE  COUNTS, REPORTS AND SIGHTINGS FOR THIS SEASON  (FALL2012)

CRANE COUNT:  2,586   SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012

Haehnle crane count still climbing

The 38 visitors who braved the cool, overcast, breezy evening at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary tonight (October 15) were rewarded with sandhill cranes arriving at a record pace and a good variety of other birds. The high water level in Mud Lake marsh that kept cranes away last year is now close to the level during our 2010 record counts. In fact, the 270 sandhills arriving within two minutes around 5:15 p.m. were more than half of the total cranes counted in our entire 12-week 2011 season. Tonight’s 2,586 total was 22 percent above the comparable 2010 week.

Including five species from an early afternoon tour near the Wooster Road dike, counters recorded 50 species. The nine raptor species included a red-shouldered hawk, a Cooper’s hawk and a northern harrier perched in the same small tree in the middle of the marsh, and a sharp-shinned hawk fluttering past, 100 feet directly overhead. Other highlights ranged from a single orange-crowned warbler and a pair of American woodcocks that flew past us as we were about to leave to big numbers: thousands (tens of thousands?) of unidentifiable black birds flying every which way well out in the marsh, a flock of 300 or more green-winged teal wheeling around the wetlands, and eight great egrets.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  1,875  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012

Haehnle sandhill count more than doubles

Visitors to the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary  tonight, October 8, saw over twice the number of sandhill cranes compared with last Monday’s count and a good variety of other birds. Cranes began arriving in earnest when a flock of about 75 flew in overhead at 5:40 p.m. By nightfall, 1,875 sandhills were roosting in the Sanctuary’s Mud Lake marsh. Last Mondays count was 811.

Other birds entertaining the 91 guests were 15 – 20 green-winged teal, six great egrets, a bald eagle, an immature northern harrier, bunches of tree swallows, a Tennessee warbler, a white-crowned sparrow, and 13 rusty blackbirds. Toward the end of the bird show, the setting sun turned the plain yellow marsh vegetation a reddish-brown and then almost pink in the last sunlight.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  811  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Haehnle cranes outpacing record 2010 counts

The weekly sandhill crane count surged upward tonight (October 1) at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary when 811 of the big birds flew in to roost. Craniacs are understandably excited because the number is nearly double the comparable (October 4) count in 2010. We finished that year with over 4,000 cranes on each of the four November Mondays. The last hour’s 696 cranes were more than the 512 total sandhills counted all last year when high water levels discouraged cranes from landing.

Crane counters identified 43 bird species tonight. After two northern harriers flew around the marsh simultaneously, an adult male harrier moved in and flew at prairie grass top level about 150 yards from us for a few minutes. We also heard two screech owls calling alternately and a counter spotted an osprey “way out there.” The hundreds of great egrets of previous weeks must have moved south because a visitor counted only seven.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  349  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

After hovering around 300 for the past three weeks, the number of sandhill cranes flying in to roost at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary rose to 349 this evening, September 24. All the birds arrived between 6 8 p.m. While the flocks of hundreds of great egrets of past weeks were gone (we saw only 16 tonight), we saw three northern harriers at once, a sharp-shinned and a Cooper's hawk in the same tree, and two bald eagles, both beyond the far side of the sanctuary. Just before sundown, a trumpeter swan flew nearly overhead. Defying identification in the distance and fading light were two adult and three immature swans and a fast flock of about 25 shorebirds, probably dunlin.

The sandhill activity brought out 27 visitors. There is little fall color yet but the wetland was a pleasant blend of browns and greens in the last light. After sunset, a few wispy clouds (and a few contrails) changed from pink to a fiery orange.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT:  297  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

Tonights sandhill crane and great egret numbers declined from last Mondays counts at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary but plenty of both and enough other birds made for a pleasant evening. We counted 297 cranes and 208 egrets, most in the last hour before sunset, flying in to roost for the nigh in the northeast Jackson County refuge. Last Mondays totals were 304 sandhills and 324 egrets.

A Coopers hawk, a merlin, an American woodcock, a pair of Black-crowned night herons, and a squeaking immature sandhill treated us to close flybys and an immature black-crowned posed in Don Henises spotting scope for about 20 minutes. About 15 common nighthawks and lots of tree swallows also flew over. A pair of screech owls calling in nearly opposite directions rounded out our evening at 8 p.m.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT: 304  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

We have started our official crane count for the fall of 2012. Skies were clear and light wind saw 304 Sandhill Cranes roost in Mud Lake Marsh. The rule of most cranes coming into the sanctuary in the last hour of daylight was true again last night (207). We did set a record for Great Egrets using the marsh as a roost. We counted 324 and almost came in the last 1/2 hour before dark from the south. Black-crowned Night Herons continue to use Haehnle for roosting.  

Other birds of note were Common Nighthawks and Chimney Swifts flying right over our heads. We had a Blackpoll Warbler next to us on some bushes, Trumpeter Swans in the marsh along with Mallards, Black Ducks, Teal species, and Wood Ducks.

Good Birding to all and hope to see you at the sanctuary

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

CRANE COUNT: 295  SANDHILL CRANES ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2012

Haehnle final score: Cranes 295, Egrets 143.

Nearly 300 sandhill cranes flew into the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary to roost this Labor Day afternoon and evening. The final tally, 295, was exceeded only once last year. Craniacs are hoping that near normal water levels in the Sanctuary's Mud Lake marsh will bring in more sandhills that the paltry numbers of 2011.

As impressive as the cranes were flocks of great egrets flying in to roost. The egrets were hard to spot in the mostly sunny sky until they dropped below the tree line. Then, the gobs of white birds looked like a tickertape parade. Other birding highlights were an American bittern standing in the open 1,500 feet away but clearly viewed with spotting scopes for about a half hour, a great view of a northern harrier hunting within 150 yards of the kiosk, a Baltimore oriole with its brilliant orange plumage facing the setting sun, and flybys of Individual and small flocks of common nighthawks for most of the evening.

Don Henise identified two different butterflies: a dainty sulfur, an irregular Michigan visitor, and an eastern tailed blue. A large, bright yellow swath of sticktight blossoms added color to the marsh and Mother Nature provided a perfect ending to the afternoon. As a large, stationary, dome shaped thunderhead grew in front of us, it turned from bright white to yellow-orange to pink in the setting sun, and then collapsed into a gray blob after sundown.

COUNTERS:  Gary Siegrist (Head),  Robyn and Don Henise
COMPILER: Mickey Kress

MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF  CRANES NEAR HAEHNLE SANCTUARY.
CLICK  ON THE MAP, OR HERE FOR LARGER MAP

VIEW OR PRINT LATEST CRANE VIEWING MAP AND INFORMATION

PEAK CRANE COUNTS FROM 1941 TO THE PRESENT.

Year Number 1941 8 1952 33 1959 66 1970 282 1971 429 1975 469 1980 1,325 1985 1,458 1990 1,432 1995 3,893 2000 2,876 2001 4,019 2002 3,084 2003 3,924 2004 2,952 2005 2,310 2006 1,564 2007 3,885 2008 280 2009 230 2010 5,523 2011 362

DETAIL CRANE COUNTS 1969 TO PRESENT