[mou] whooping cranes- Meeker co.

[Bob Ekblad]

The bird that was by Rice Lake State Park (seen in both Dodge and Steele 
Counties) had similar leg banding.  I didn't record the color 
combinations but I do remember the three/two combination.  The bird also 
had a couple of long colored streamers attached in the upper wing area 
that stood out like a sore thumb (dressed to go dancing I guess).  With 
the information Randy noted on the leg bands, hopefully the people in 
Wisconsin will be able to tell if the birds came from their flock or not.

PS - Diane, Chuck Krulas and I were in the brown (actually gold, but as 
usual, dusty brown) Tahoe across the bay from Dave Cahlander at the 
(former) location of the Brown Pelican.  We checked out several of the 
other local lakes and found quite a few American White Pelicans 
including a good size flock circling to gain altitude - but no brown.  
By the time we got home there were already a couple of posts regarding 
the pelican.  I hope someone will be able to re-find the bird somewhere 
further north - i.e., Bigstone, etc., where it undoubtedly was headed 
(possibly even Chase Lake in ND).

fredericksonr@willmar.k12.mn.us wrote:

>The pair of cranes in Meeker co. was observed from about 7:15-8:00 this
>morning.  Both parties there looking for them were fortunate to see them
>flying (from what we presume to be the roost site) to the area they were
>feeding in yesterday evening, and again this morning.  They flew from an
>area about 1.5 mi ENE of the feeding area.  There is a lot of good looking
>crane habitat here.  Had the birds not been out to feed in the corn
>stubble, finding them would have been difficult at best.
>
>The birds only fed for about 40 minutes before they flew off to the NNE.
>They were low in flight, perhaps suggesting they didn't travel far.
>
>I did not see the  Rice county bird last year, so could someone please let
>me know how it was marked.  leg bands? any collar?  radio transmitter
>visible?
>
>Both these birds had leg bands:
>bird #1 left leg- red over white, right leg- white over green over white
>bird #2 left leg- red over white, right leg- white over green over red
>We had fairly good looks through scopes from 150-200 yards and are
>reasonably certain these birds had no other "hardware"
>
>These birds appeared to be a mated pair (or had peculiar sexual
>preferences), as they were observed doing the crane dance several times.
>They vocalized once on the ground and once in the air. A totally awesome
>experience!
>
>Randy Frederickson
>Willmar
>
>
>p.s.
>I will return to the crane site this evening and post findings by Monday a.m.
>
>p.p.s. People looking for these birds and not finding them are strongly
>encouraged to share this information.  It helps others still contemplating
>travel.  (I cannot believe only two people looked for the Brown pelican on
>Saturday and there were only two posts).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>  
>

-- 
Bob Ekblad
Olmsted County in SE Minnesota
http://home.rconnect.com/~ekblad/