Sky Cranes

World weary and battered by the bad news on so many of Ohio's environmental fronts, a few of us went search of solace, healing and respite that only nature gives our souls. Steve McKee of Gorman Nature Center offered a woodpecker walk into the ravines of Mohican which provided some much need exercise and an end-of-day birding trip to the Funk Bottoms/Killbuck Wildlife areas south of Wooster provided an additional lift for our mood.

Sandhill Cranes aloft. Photo Greg Cornett

Nothing could be more magical than watching Sandhill Cranes in descending flight. Hanging mid-air, gently tipping outstretched wings to drop altitude: poetry in motion.

I have often watch Canada Geese perform this ballet while descending toward pond or corn field. The sheer size of these four-foot cranes magnify the seemingly impossible flight of these giant birds. Although I do not understand the principals of aviation (nor do I imagine the cranes know or care) the slow motion balance work is a miraculous sight. Legs dangling, delicately preparing for contact, these sandhill cranes remind me of living hang gliders.

Sandhill Cranes aground. Photo Greg Cornett

We spent a portion of our late afternoon with Sandhill Cranes, 104 at our last count, as they gathered for an evening roost. While this may not be the numbers of birds seen in Jasper-Pulaski, or Bosque del Apache, it is certainly a sight of merit within striking distance for mid-Ohioans. I know it set my world right.

As John Muir said, "Everybody need beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul."

Here our map to Rt 95 ( Blachleyville Rd) and S. Elyria Rd. near Funk-Bottoms Wildlife area with the bird site in red. The birds generally move around that area, sometimes seen in the corn stubble south of the church on the corner of Blachleyville Rd. Circle that block, and chances are good you may find a gathering. Or keep an eye skyward, and you'll likely see two or three coming and going during daylight hours.

Here's to Ohio and to all of the natural areas for birds, and nature's wonderous healing. May it continue to be so.

Sandhill Cranes

One would think Sandhill Cranes, standing four feet tall, would be easy to spot in a field. But nesting sandhills can be surprisingly stealthy. And if you were looking for Ohio's isolated populations one would start in Wayne and Holmes Counties where the first of recent breeding populations (reported in 1987) were found. Considered endangered in Ohio, we birders in the Greater Mohican Audubon area hold them in highest regard.

Richland County Sandhill Cranes Photo by Dane Adams

Last week the top was blown off the breeding bird news with Richland county's first family of Sandhill Cranes. Gary Cowell reported seeing two adults and two juveniles, called colts, in Richland County just off Bowen Rd. Sure enough, photographer Dane Adams, Jan Auburn and I were able to relocate the happy family hiding in the phragmites along Bowen Rd.

Adult Sandhill and Colt ........................Photo by Dane Adams

What a joyous occasion to see the product of what one suspects was the union of a pair of Sandhills who performed their spring courtship "dance" on this very field. This may be the first Sandhill Cranes born in Richland County in a century, or perhaps... ever.

Historically, it is likely this was a wooded area at the turn of the century when these cranes were more commonly found in Ohio. Now the land has been opened up by agricultural activities, providing an area to forage near the Bowen Rd. wetland located in this field... and the nearby Ashland University Wetlands complex.

But the big surprise came when we went out to photo document these colts. We found a second pair of cranes across the street by the Ashland University wetlands! The red dots on the map mark the locations where the two families of Sandhill Cranes were foraging that morning. Who would have believed there were eight Sandhill Cranes making a living on this back road just off route 42?!

Scanning Ohio's farm fields turned up some surprising information for Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas.

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You'll want to report any of your unusual findings to the fine folks trying to put Ohio's breeding birds on the map. And don't forget to report your normal, regular and routine findings too. It is all a part of the breeding bird history of Ohio needed to document the whole picture. And who knows? While you are out there you might find something spectacular too!