2020 Sandhill Cranes Thread

[Coyote]

A friend saw this year's first Sanhill Crane..

[Brad]

Wow seems a couple weeks early!

[Candleshoe]

Now that I'm living in Hutchinson, Kansas, I thought I'd miss seeing the cranes each Spring. Turns out that Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, 30 minutes west of me is a bit of a traditional staging area for the cranes each Spring. Cheyenne Bottoms, about an hour northwest of Hutch is another. Here's a shot I took from the road of cranes in a salt marsh on January 15th. Population then was estimated at 3,000. Last week they raised that to 7,000 with one juvenile whooper.

[Coyote]

I have thought of going there for years, for the Whooping Cranes

[Brad]

Yesterday I talked to a friend out on the Platte south of Grand Island. He heard his first cranes of 2020 a few days ago. He says the river is running really high right now and they might not be able to roost on the river yet.

I also saw a couple photos on Facebook from yesterday showing a few cranes.

Its interesting neither Rowe or the Crane Trust has reported any yet.

[Brad]

The Crane Trust has their weekly surveys going! https://cranetrust.org/

FEBRUARY 11, 2020
Sandhill Crane Counts 2020 - Week 1 = 6,150
More Info:
https://cranetrust.org/news-events/the- ... 020-week-1

FEBRUARY 18, 2020
Sandhill Crane Counts 2020 - Week 2 = 13,120
More Info:
https://cranetrust.org/news-events/the- ... 020-week-2

[Brad]

Big news for Rowe Sanctuary, Explorer has added the Crane Camera to their Explorer Networks!

https://explore.org/livecams/national-a ... ane-camera

Our Crane Cam Upgrade
Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary has partnered with Explore.org to bring the crane camera to a much wider audience. We have worked steadily to improve our live camera over the past few years, making investments to improve the quality of the experience for our dedicated watchers. These upgrades have created a live video feed that is one of the best ways to experience the crane migration if you can’t see it in person.

These efforts paid off last June when Explore.org approached us about the prospect of adding our camera to their network. Explore.org is a nature camera website that specializes in working with non-profits to bring live cameras to the world. Live videos on Explore can have more than 1000 viewers and provide a great sense of community around what is happening on camera. We are excited to continue to grow the crane camera with Explore and bring the Sandhill Crane migration and the Platte River to people around the world.

[Uffda]

Big news for Rowe Sanctuary, Explorer has added the Crane Camera to their Explorer Networks!

https://explore.org/livecams/national-a ... ane-camera

Our Crane Cam Upgrade
Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary has partnered with Explore.org to bring the crane camera to a much wider audience. We have worked steadily to improve our live camera over the past few years, making investments to improve the quality of the experience for our dedicated watchers. These upgrades have created a live video feed that is one of the best ways to experience the crane migration if you can’t see it in person.

These efforts paid off last June when Explore.org approached us about the prospect of adding our camera to their network. Explore.org is a nature camera website that specializes in working with non-profits to bring live cameras to the world. Live videos on Explore can have more than 1000 viewers and provide a great sense of community around what is happening on camera. We are excited to continue to grow the crane camera with Explore and bring the Sandhill Crane migration and the Platte River to people around the world.

Thanks for the link --- just looked and saw some large flock in the air? Cranes or geese or ?

[Brad]

Thanks for the link --- just looked and saw some large flock in the air? Cranes or geese or ?

I didn't see it. The last count said 13,000 cranes, but it said 47,000 "dark geese" and I have heard there are also hundreds of thousands of snow geese out there now as well. So I guess it could be any without seeing them.

[Brad]

Crane season approaches with high hopes for Rowe Sanctuary's new blinds, prayers for good weather

https://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/c ... 39896.html

GIBBON — Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary Director Bill Taddicken and his staff can’t wait to show crane migration season guests the view from four new discovery stations along the south side of the Platte River southwest of Gibbon.

“It will be a better panoramic view because you’re not looking out of little portholes,” Taddicken said about the new structures’ wide windows overlooking river sandbars that soon will be overnight roosting sites for hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes for approximately six weeks.

[Brad]

The Crane Trust has their weekly surveys going! https://cranetrust.org/

FEBRUARY 24, 2020
Sandhill Crane Counts 2020 - Week 3 = 34,500
More Info:
https://cranetrust.org/news-events/the- ... 020-week-3

[Uffda]

The Crane Trust has their weekly surveys going! https://cranetrust.org/

FEBRUARY 24, 2020
Sandhill Crane Counts 2020 - Week 3 = 34,500
More Info:
https://cranetrust.org/news-events/the- ... 020-week-3

Havent seen much on the web camera as the river seems pretty high still.

Who controls the camera view? When I pulled it up it was facing away from the river and then over a few minutes it slowly moved back to the river.

[Brad]

Who controls the camera view? When I pulled it up it was facing away from the river and then over a few minutes it slowly moved back to the river.

Back in the day they had a remote in the visitor center. But it also had an automatic loop it moved on. Not sure these days.

[Brad]

The Crane Trust has their weekly surveys going! https://cranetrust.org/

FEBRUARY 29, 2020
Sandhill Crane Counts 2020 - Week 4 = 196,400
More Info:
https://cranetrust.org/news-events/the- ... 020-week-4

[Brad]

Crane Trust has closed for the season and cancelled all crane tours due to the virus.

[Brad]

After initially saying they are staying open, Rowe has now closed for the season too...

[Uffda]

Waiting to Tee Off this morning.

[Brad]

On Thursday March 12, the Crane Trust estimated 541,000 Sandhill Cranes. They had to cut the flight short due to wind so they think the number might be even higher.

They did not post the normal info on their website, just a quick message on Facebook.