Santee NWR Sandhill Crane + Geese modus operandi

[Nathan Dias <diasn@yahoo.com>]

On Sunday (1-19), Burton Moore and I had 17 Sandhill
Cranes, 3 Snow Geese (2 of them blue morph) and 400+
Canada Geese from the observation tower at Bluff Unit,
Santee NWR.  The White-fronted Goose did not put in an
appearance, unfortunately.   

For those who wish to see the Cranes or Snow Geese
that frequent the Bluff Unit, my advice is to get
there early: in the 7:30-8:00am range. Their pattern
seems to consist of an early morning feed in the
grainfield near the tower and then dispersal by
mid-to-late morning.  

This past Sunday, Burton and I arrived at 7:45am.  All
17 Cranes were already feeding in the field and no
geese were present.  5 minutes later, a flock of 8
Canada and 2 Snow Geese (the pair of blue morph birds)
sailed in for a landing.  Over the next hour, flock
after flock of geese arrived; one of them contained
the Snow Goose.   All the birds were still present
when we left at 9:15am (to head for Huntington Beach
State Park).

On other days, I have watched the Cranes leave the
field at 9:50am and 10:30am.

Nathan Dias,  Charleston SC 


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