The Cranes (Sandhill - not Frasier or Niles)
On Saturday 4/13/2024 I participated in the Ohio Crane Count, taking a gridmap quadrant in Logan County and hitting various locations in the square that may contain Sandhill Cranes. The protocol was to arrive there at 6:30am just before sunrise, and then count the cranes found in locations within the area during the next two hours. The square that we had was known to have Sandhill activity in the past. While I was hopeful that we’d spot at least SOME cranes, or maybe even hear one - not a single crane was spotted in our area.
To say I was bummed would be an understatement, having seen some way off in the distance a few weeks earlier in the Killdeer Plains Wildlife area. Oh well, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning with Renee, and we did see a lot of other species including Trumpeter Swans.
So this weekend I decided that I needed to see a few Sandhills, and headed to Big Island and Killdeer to see some cranes and other species. Arriving at Big Island at sunrise on Saturday, I could hear some cranes off in the distance. The sun was still behind the remaining clouds as it rose above the horizon. This made for some nice color in the clouds, and as I was admiring the clouds the first crane spotting of the day happened. I was shooting my camera in manual mode exposing for the sky and clouds at that moment going for some artsy wildlife silhouette imagery.
As soon as the sun fully emerged from the clouds, the cranes seemed to come alive! I heard calls all around me, and then suddenly there were several flying around.
It was just amazing. I would estimate there were at least a dozen of them, and they were very noisy. Sandhill Cranes are amazing birds. They are huge, and very graceful in flight. Once you’ve seen one, there’s no mistaking them for any other bird.
During the Crane Count training session, the speakers talked about how to tell the difference between Sandhills and the bird that is most often mistaken for them - the Great Blue Heron. I think maybe if you’ve never seen a Sandhill in person that could be a concern, but they are larger, their flight pattern is different and most notably they keep their necks fully extended during flight, while the Heron keeps his tucked in. I think in bad light, you might mistake a Trumpeter Swan for a Sandhill, but the Swan is much whiter and not grey like the Sandhills.
After my first stop at Big Island, I went to various locations at Killdeer to see what else was around. I spotted a few more Sandhills, along with some Blue-Winged Teal, Gadwalls, Trumpeter Swans, and Cormorants. I also heard several Sora Rails, but never saw one, unfortunately.
The next morning I headed to Spring Valley Wildlife Area near Spring Valley, Ohio. This was my second time visiting this location in a week’s time and I was not disappointed. I finally got my first Sora image of the year!
Spring Migration is in full swing at Spring Valley at this time of the year. There are warblers everywhere you look, especially along the West side of the lake near the treeline. Parula, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-Rumped, Palm and several other warbler species are very active there in the early mornings. Below are some of my images I’ve shot at Spring Valley in the last week or so.
With all of this bird activity I am getting more excited about my upcoming trips to Magee Marsh and Ottawa Reserve in early May for the Biggest Week in American Birding. Last year was a lot of fun and my hope is that spending more time there this year will yield even better results!
Stay tuned. And as always, thanks for reading!
Jeremy
