2005 Crane Counts

SANDHILL CRANES
COUNTED THE EVENING OF: MARCH 2005 3 100+ (Our first “official” group!)
4 125
5 700 – 750
6   100 – 125
7    75
8    1
9    1000+
10   150
11    2,500 (there may have been
            as many as 3,000)
12    600 +
13    700
14    15 – Cold front coming in from
the South
         (holdovers from yesterday?)
15     0 – It’s still cold
16    100
17     0
18     0 – Damn!
19 1,700
20     Very overcast and stormy
conditions surrounding
          the area today. This evening we had about
         1,500 (about 1/2 left the
Reservoir @ 10:30-45 am
         and some returned, we don’t know where
        the rest came from)
21     125
22     700
23     700 (Many cranes did not
        leave this morning)
24     390 to 400
25     36
26     300
27     500+
28    1,300 to 1,500
29     200
30     130
31      21

APRIL
1      630
2      750
3      15
4       29
5       17
6       160
7       100
8        33 (Osprey was spotted)
9        29
10       5
11       1
12      25
13       5
14        0

THIS CONCLUDES OUR CRANE COUNT
FOR THE SPRING MIGRATION THROUGH
FRUITGROWERS RESERVOIR.

APRIL REMAINS AN EXCITING TIME
FOR THE OTHER MANY OTHER MIGRATING
AND RETURNING BIRD SPECIES THAT
COME TO THE RESERVOIR AND HART’S BASIN

We try to count Cranes around sunset
to include the late arrivals,
and to provide you with an idea
of how many birds you may encounter
the next morning at “liftoff” (usually
between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m.,
or 10:00 and 11:00 a.m daylight savings time).

Crane counts are estimates of what
was seen by one or more observers.
The bigger the number of Cranes
the less likely the number is accurate.

These numbers are most useful
when looked at as relative numbers
of Cranes from day to day.

Sometimes the counts we post
in the evening are modified the
next morning when we feel more
confident with the accuracy of
the morning count.

OTHER BIRD SPECIES SIGHTED 2005
at, or adjacent to, the RESERVOIRSandhill Crane (Greater ssp.)
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Mallard
Common Merganser
Canada Geese
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Black-billed Magpie
Western Meadowlark
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Redhead
American Widgeon
American Coot
Northern Pintail
Mountain Bluebird
Killdeer
Great Horned Owl
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk)
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
Red-wing Blackbird
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Starling
Ring-necked Pheasant
Common Raven
Rock Wren
House Finch
Double-Crested Cormorant
CinnamonTeal
Greater Yellowlegs
Great Egret
Green-Winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Cattle Egret
American Avocet
White-Faced Ibis