5352 sandhill cranes were counted coming off the roost at Sherburne NWR this morning - a new high count for the refuge! Most birds are in the CR 3 and CR 70 environs, northwest of the refuge, although they are now spread out more into newly harvested corn fields throughout the area. It's not difficult to see several hundred birds in a field. I'll be putting hard copies of our crane-viewing map out at information kiosks along CR's 9, 5 and 3 today, and it's available on our web site at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/sherburne. There are still quite a few bald eagles around, and two golden eagles have been spotted over the past week. There are lots of ducks and geese present, red-tailed and rough-legged hawks, and a few lingering sparrows - white-throated, fox and song. The northern shrike remained long the Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive as of yesterday, along with two snow buntings - all in the area of Nelson Pool between mile markers 2 and 3. Betsy Beneke Sherburne NWR
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