Subject: [Tweeters] Sandhills in King County
Date: Dec 12 14:57:10 2005
From: Wayne C. Weber - contopus at telus.net


Gene and Tweeters,

I am surprised that Sandhill Cranes are as rare as they appear
to be in King County. In the Vancouver, BC area, there are still a few
pairs breeding in sphagnum bogs in Pitt Meadows and in Delta's
Burns Bog (less than 10 pairs total, perhaps only 5 pairs.) The
"reintroduction" attempt was abandoned long ago. In fact, it was
an attempt to augment populations, not really a reintroduction--
the local breeders never died out, although current numbers are
much less than those of 50 or 60 years ago.

In addition, there are a few Sandhills present year-round at the
Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta, with at least one pair attempting
to breed most years.

In fall (late September, particularly), we still get concentrations of up to
25 Sandhills at once in fields just west of Burns Bog, near the
Vancouver landfill. This number is too large to be accounted for by local
breeders and their young, and must include a few birds from breeding
areas in the Queen Charlottes, or islands on the BC coast opposite the
Charlottes, which are known to have quite a few breeding pairs.

Vancouver is well off the main coastal migration route for Alaskan
Sandhills, which use the west coast of Vancouver Island. However,
I had always assumed that the local breeding birds flew directly south,
which would take them right over King County. They certainly do not
winter here, and it seems unlikely that they go as far west as the outer
coast, only to head back inland along the Columbia River.

I suspect that a few Sandhills do migrate regularly over King County,
both in spring and fall, but have been overlooked. (They could fly
very high and not land in or near the county, and Sandhills migrate
by night as well as by day.) Perhaps we should try to catch and
radio-collar some of the local Vancouver-area breeding birds and
find out where they do winter, and what route they take to get there.

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



----- Original Message -----
From: "Eugene and Nancy Hunn" <enhunn323 at comcast.net>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Cc: <Lstorm61 at aol.com>; "Kristine Bovy" <kbovy at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 1:09 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Sandhills in King County


Tweets,

With regard to Sandhill Crane records for King County, I checked my now
out-of-print _Birding Seattle and King County_ in which I summarized records
up to 1982 (pg. 90). There were just six, and three of these were from the
1890s when fairly large flocks were noted. This accords with archaeological
and historical evidence that Sandhills, presumably Greater Sandhills, used
to nest widely in western Washington, likely in prairie habits maintained by
Indian burning.

The other three records were all 1980, which was shortly after Sandhills
were reintroduced at Pitt Meadows east of Vanouver, BC (fide Wayne Weber). I
have compiled all King County rarity records up to ca 2000 and have no
additional reports. We're off the coastal migratory path which runs from
Cape Flattery through the Humptulips valley, over Raymond, to the lower
Columbia River wintering concentration near Portland, Oregon.

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl NE
Lake Forest Park, WA
enhunn323 at comcast.net