Date: 12/7/24 7:39 pm From: Dave Nutter <nutter.dave...> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Montezuma Sandhill Cranes continue at Mucklands
On November 26th Pete Saracino reported 323 Sandhill Cranes at the Montezuma NWR Visitor Center, but in the following days they seemed to disappear. On November 29th I saw none at the VC nor along the Wildlife Drive and only 15 at Knox-Marsellus. On November 30th, the last day the Wildlife Drive was open, I saw no cranes in any of these places, so I thought they must have migrated en masse, even though in the last few years many have stayed until or into January.
I was mistaken, because until today I hadn’t checked the Mucklands, either on eBird or in person. On December 5 Jane Graves and Alison Van Keuren reported 300 Sandhill Cranes at the Mucklands, and yesterday Donna Carter estimated 350 Sandhill Cranes there in a large crowd. Today (December 7) Ann Mitchell & I stopped at the intersection of NYS-89 & NYS-31 at the west end of the Mucklands and were astonished at the number of Sandhill Cranes. For us, the cranes were spread out along various ditches, allowing me to count them pretty accurately in a single scope sweep of our view south of NYS-31. My total was 418 Sandhill Cranes. This large number has caused eBird to hesitate to include my report in the database yet, but I’d like to spread the word.
- - Dave Nutter
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