episode 1,104SANDHILL CRANES – 4300 LIVE HERE – 95,OOO STOP TO REST AT SPOTS LIKE LOING POINT -TOTAL POPULATION IS 450,,000 – SHOULD HUNTERS START KILLING THEM?

EPISODE 1,1O4:  SANDHILL CRANES – 4300 LIVE HERE – 95,OOO STOP AT REST SPOTS LIKE LOING POINT -TOTAL POPULATION IS 450,000 – SHOULD HUNTERS START KILLING THEM?

alan skeoch

sept. 13, 2024

“Dad, four huge birds were eating grain dropped by the combine harvester.. I Checked

them out.  They are SANDHILL CRANES.  When they stand erect they are almost as 

tall as humans.  All four took off making a gobbling noise.”

“Wonder if I can get a look at them?”

“Doubt it Dad. They saw me before I saw them…took off immediately.  Try the back field.”

Result?   No sign of the Cranes even though I drove the Kubota through all the fields most of

which were now covered with red clover plants. also Must be lots of grain dropped by the combine

harvester.

“SURVIVAL?” … SURVIVAL IS A QUESTION

I Have never seen a Sandhill Crane even though 95,000 of them live or pass through

Ontario each year.  I am 86 years old and an amateur naturalist which means I love

nature but have no easy answer to the survival of Sandhill Cranes.  I do not grow

wheat, oats. or barley.

What is known about Sandhill Cranes?

– nearly became extinct from over hunting but seem to have rebounded as there

are now around 95,000 visiting Ontario each year.   4300 were counted at Long Point

on Lake Erie.  The total population in Canada is around 450,000.

-Right now they are protected but pressure from farmers may result in a change.

Why?  Because flocks of sandhill cranes devastate some grain fields particularly in Northern

Ontario.  Losses of grain on some fields are as high as 50%.

-Sandhill crane nests usually have only two eggs but only one hatching survives.

Of late the population has grown about 4% per year.

-Nestng sites are always close to wetlands.  Big nests of dry reeds and even burdock.

-They eat almost anything including frogs and snakes but grain seeds

are their favourite food.

-preditors are raccoons and other carnivores which are driven away by adult cranes using their

feet.  

-24 cranes are wearing collars in an effort to determine if population of cranes

should be ‘harvested’ (which means shot)

-Breeding sites are mostly in the northern tundra.

-wintering sites are as far south as Florida and Texas where they gather in thousands.

-wingspan as much as 7 feet

-they remain aloft for hours

-considered a prize by hunters as they weigh as much as ten pounds

-Skeoch family sitings on Fifth Line, wellington county – Andrew saw and photographed four sandhill cranes

      -Alan Skeoch saw none because the cranes saw him first it seems.

alan skeochupload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Grus_canadensis_in_flight-2618.jpg/400px-Grus_canadensis_in_flight-2618.jpg 2x” data-file-width=”3646″ data-file-height=”2051″>

sept. 13, 2024

HERE IS THE QUESTION…IS CULLING THE FLOCK A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL?

Should we allow hunters to kill sandhill cranes…one crane per hunter?

Consider that they mate for life.  Shoot a crane and leave the mate to fly alone.

Consider that each pair of sandhill cranes produce one hatchling per year.

Consider that predation by raccoons, coyotes, foxes, eagles, disease, loss of wetlands

already is a natural check on population growth.

Consider that I have never seen a sandhill crane but would like to do so.

Consider that I do not make my living by growing grain

Weigh the checks and balances carefully

We are considering a road trip to Long Point.

On a mid-February morning at Big Creek National Wildlife Area, which encompasses 771 hectares on the north shores of Lake Erie, eastern sandhill cranes patrol the icy surface of a marsh. The large grey birds with red-splashed foreheads take off, swooping one way, then another, and the air fills with squeaky chatter. They land in a field and scratch for grain. 

Sandhill cranes are no strangers to the area, which sits at the base of the Long Point peninsula, a 40-kilometre sand spit that’s a little more than an hour’s drive from London. It’s one of Ontario’s most important staging areas for bird migration. What’s unusual, though, is that they’re here now. Typically, the migrating birds visit briefly in the fall and early winter before continuing toward the American Midwest and, sometimes, as far south as Florida. But, this year, thousands have remained — there are roughly 4,300 today, according to a Canadian Wildlife Service count.