Sandhill Crane Migration -one of my favorite times of year

One of the joys about writing for the blog is I can write about whatever I want to - well within reason! However, one of the drawbacks, is that I hate having to save a fascinating (to me) fact until the appropriate time.

Today, the time has come for me to share a saved tidbit - because, finally the Sandhill Cranes began flowing like a rapidly running river through West Cobb County.

I saw and heard the first huge mass of sandhill cranes around 1:15 while I was at the garden talking to BJ. - thanks BJ for sharing that joyous moment with me. The next big mass I saw in the sky was when I came out of Kroger on Dallas Hwy around 1:45. There were hundreds circling and calling in the sky with more headed towards them. Usually I avoid going out the entrance facing the Avenues of West Cobb because traffic is such a PITA.

But today I said to myself, nope, I'll just go out that entrance because I can watch the sandhill cranes when I get stopped at the traffic light at Due West and Dallas Highway. Lucky me..another huge kettle of sandhill cranes was forming up over the Bank of America building just as I arrived and I got to sit through the entire light. YES! the entire light!!

Once I got home I watched thousands of them sail over head for several more hours -  all headed south at a rapid clip. I'm thinking they finally the message after this last cold spell that it really was time to head to Florida for the winter. There is a huge gathering spot in Tennessee called the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Birchwood Tennessee that sees large flocks of sandhill cranes in the fall and winter, 30 to 40,000 sometimes.

Here is my saved up factoid about sandhill cranes which I read in the Atlanta Audubon Newsletter.    

      "Their coiled tracheas enhance their calls, sending the notes out long before the birds are seen, causing us to look up in expectation."

I had never really thought about how they produce the sound, I just love listening to it.  Interestingly enough, in March of this year one of the posts I wrote included a section on  Sandhill Cranes. There just so happens to be a link it in if you want to listen to a sandhill crane calling.  (This link is to the article itself - http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2014/03/signs-of-spring.html)

Now that the cranes are really here, I think I'll be going on a wild goose (i.e. crane) chase up to Field's Landing in Cherokee County to see if I can see them up close and personal. Fields Landing is only 45 minutes from here. Last year several of my community garden friends (Rita and Elise) and I went up there to see if  we could see any. Nope...we were too late and they had all gone north so it really was a wild goose/crane trip.

Be sure and keep your ears open and your eyes flicking upwards towards the sky listening and watching for sandhill cranes since they are finally on the move again. And now I've gone full circle with this topic and connected Sandhill Cranes to the Garden as well as reported on them migrating south to GABO (Georgia Birders Online.)

Vicki
Bed 41

Birds at the Garden

The weather was quite frightful but the birds were most delightful.  That sums up my quick venture up to the garden to count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count.


Two goldfinches and a white-breasted nuthatch

I've been keeping a casual list of birds I've seen on my visits to the garden and had managed to accumulate 28 species for my Green Meadows Bird List.  If I'd been taking binoculars to the garden to specifically look for birds I'd have a much longer list! In just one hour of standing near the shed and looking through the binoculars,  I managed to add 4 more species.

The shed makes a great place to stand and watch birds for two reasons: it acts as a bird blind and as shelter from the brutal wind. Saturday, anything that protected us from the wind was greatly appreciated!



What is a bird blind you say?
Any thing that keeps the birds from being aware of you. Examples: a car, the house, the over hang of the shed or a specific shelter built for watching birds.

Kitty was at the garden to do Garden Duty but there weren't any crazy gardeners out Saturday afternoon so she joined me looking for birds.  As you can tell from her smile she was having fun even if she was freezing.

Two frozen gardeners (Mike and Sue) stopped by after they finished their walk but they didn't stay long!

Great Backyard Bird Count

One of my favorite Citizen Science events is about to occur - the Great Backyard Bird Count !

What is a Citizen Science project you ask?
       It is any project where ordinary people go out and collect data and submit it to the requesting group. This data is used to detect trends and developments. Some projects require you to go through a training class - like if you are a stream monitor. Jim will be doing citizen science when he records and reports on the success of the birds that move into the nest boxes on the Bluebird Trail.

This year the Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb 15-18, 2013. I'm going to try it at the Community Garden as well as at my house.

If you are interested, join me at the garden on 

 Saturday, Feb 16 between 2:00 and 4:00 and we'll look for birds.

Bring binoculars if you have any.

Below are pictures of some of the birds that have been heard or seen in and around the garden. We'll just see how cooperative they are when we go looking for them!

To the left, pine siskins on the tube feeder. Above, a red-bellied woodpecker. Below the pine siskins, a tufted titmouse.

A male cardinal (to the left) is bright red all over. While a female cardinal (above) is buffy brown with red highlights. She isn't bright like the male because she needs to be hidden while sitting on the nest. Below is a morning dove.