Kip’s Comments - April 15, 2023
Success to Inaccuracies
For as many years as we have been counting sandhill cranes early on a Saturday in April in Bremer County, I have been present - including today. Our count began at 5:30AM and continued for two-hours. Crane counters documented guard calls, unison calls, and visual observations. Today I was close enough to cranes that I was able to hear their soft “purring” call too.
I expected this year might be different since Marten’s Lake at Sweet Marsh is drawn down. Each year I have been at this same spot, so now, to have no water, suggested numbers might be different. And different they were. My count, as accurate as I could be, was 73 sandhill cranes. Of those birds, two-thirds were observed in flight assuring some level of a correct count. The remaining one third were audible observations. Each time I heard calling from a different location I made note of that spot. Then I multiplied unison calls by the number of different sites to determine the count.
So what am I referring to when I title these remarks “Success to Inaccuracies?” Sweet Marsh is well-covered by bird counters. As the number of sandhill cranes has increased exponentially over the years, the possibility of multiple counters documenting the same birds calling or flying increases. What began as a few calls heard by people at various locations is now many calls, and more birds in flight, being seen and heard at the same time by multiple people. With the increased numbers, the ability to sort out duplicates hardly exists as it did with fewer birds. With success the possibility of inaccuracies in our count increases.
That we have seen great sandhill crane reproductive success in Bremer County is an understatement. Suitable habitat exists and the birds are thriving. That our count numbers might be skewed could be, I suppose, a concern - but not really. When you go from counting single birds to group counting birds, that is a great thing. That we have so many cranes active at the same time is a natural world success story. Perhaps our annual Sandhill Crane Count might someday be deemed not necessary - an other indicator of success.
Now, if we could also start hosting whooping cranes in Bremer County, that would be really special! Maybe someday?
Following are some images recorded during the count. Since we count well before the sun rises over the horizon, the lighting is not ideal for these photos.
Sandhill Crane - Image 800081
Sandhill Crane - Image 800200
Sandhill Cranes - Image 800353
Since I was out observing and documented wildlife species, I also watched a group of song sparrows as they flitted around my count location. This was one of the song sparrows.
Song Sparrow - Image 800380
I also documented the sun as it climbed up in the sky. It was a pretty sunrise, for a few seconds. Then clouds obscured the view for the remainder of the count time.
Sunrise and Trees - Image 800402
After the crane count I noticed something sad. This wild turkey lay dead under a large tree. I am hopeful that the person who drove the truck from Minnesota found the bird, assuming that person shot it. It would be a shame to waste a wild turkey. (I did not go looking for the hunter to show him where the bird was. That would not be safe!)
Dead Wild Turkey - Image 800417
