[mou] mou - Steele County, Mn Whooping Crane still there

[Alden McCutchan]

    At 7:15 PM today THREE cranes flew in a tight grouping from the NW into
the small pond north of Steele County Highway 19 near the NW corner of Rice
Lake State Park. One was an adult whooping crane with all the proper
markings. We could see no white on the other two. They appeared nearly as
large as the whooping crane but with only 8x40 binoculars the markings of
these two were difficult to discern (at approximately 200 yards). They
appeared to be roughly the size and coloring of adult sandhills. The
whoopimg crane left the other two after alighting near the shore and walked
slowly along the NE shore of the pond before returning to the others. There
was no ripple on the water so the beutiful whooping crane with it's
reflected water image was spectacular!
     Do whoopers and sandhills fly closely together in tight formation?
Could these be unusually marked juveniles? My friend and neighbor Mary Doerr
and I await your responses. We watched these spectacular birds from highway
19 for about half an hour - an experience we will not forget.

Alden McCutchan
Kenyon, MN