Any idea what subspecdies of Sandhill Cranes are involved as Western WA migrants? The Queen Charlottes seem too far north to have Greater Sandhills.

Way back when, when I saw a small flock of Sandhills flying from along the Chuckanut shore and flying past Blanchard Hill (October), they looked to be smallish, with quick wing beats (until they started soaring). I had the impression that they were Lesser Sandhills. They were smaller than, for example, the large Sandhills I once saw flying near the Texas coast.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
> Gene and Tweeters,
>
> As far as I know, there are no Sandhill Cranes currently breeding on
> Vancouver Island. (There used to be, but these small populations disappeared
> many years ago, probably because of too much development and disturbance.)
> However, there are fair numbers (hundreds?) of Sandhill Cranes that breed on
> the Queen Charlotte Islands and on a couple of large islands on the central
> mainland coast of BC. There are large areas of boggy habitats on the
> Charlottes which are good habitat for breeding Sandhills. This is probably
> the origin of most of the Sandhill Cranes seen in transit in western WA,
> although some of them may come from farther north in Alaska.
>
> As for the birds seen migrating over the Puget Sound area-- even if there
> are only a few dozen in total, there are too many to all come from the
> Greater Vancouver area. (We have probably only about 6 to 8 breeding pairs
> in Pitt Meadows and Burns Bog.) We regularly see groups of up to 25 Sandhill
> Cranes in late September along the west side of Burns Bog. It seems likely
> that some of these cranes, as well as those seen migrating in the Puget
> Sound area, are also from the Queen Charlotte Islands.
>
> Of course, we don't know for sure where these birds are coming from unless
> some of them are banded-- and I don't believe anyone has tried to do this.
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Delta, BC
> contopus at telus.net
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
> [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Eugene and
> Nancy Hunn
> Sent: October-04-07 8:47 AM
> To: Dianna Moore; Tweeters
> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] re: Sandhill Cranes & Greater White-fronted geese
>
> Tweets,
>
> Re. Sandhill Cranes migrating. I understand there were a goodly number of
> cranes counted some years ago when there was an organized hawk watch in fall
>
> at Cape Flattery. I've noticed myself and there are numerous reports of
> cranes overhead along a line from the outer coast near Pt. Grenville, down
> the Humptulips, over the head of Grays Harbor, then over Raymond. I presume
> these represent a regular movement from nesting areas on Vancouver Island or
>
> further north along the coast to the wintering area in the Vancouver
> Lake/Sauvie Island/Ridgefield area.
>
> There seems to be a much smaller movement south over Seattle, perhaps from
> the remnant breeding population at Pitt Meadows on the lower Fraser.
>
> Gene Hunn
> 18476 47th Pl NE
> Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
> enhunn323 at comcast.net
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dianna Moore" <dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com>
> To: "Tweeters" <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 9:39 PM
> Subject: [Tweeters] re: Sandhill Cranes & Greater White-fronted geese
>
>
> > Hey Tweets....a fried of mine lives on the bluffs in Hoquiam overlooking
> > the Bowerman Basin. He called me a few years ago and said there were
> > approximately 300 Sandhill Cranes that had just come in over his home and
> > settled on the mudflats below.
> >
> > I grabbed my scope and a friend and we got to see the birds...what a
> > picture of contentment! Never having seen the large congregations along
> > the Platte River or other stopovers, this was my first sighting of such a
> > large group.
> >
> > Since then I have seen them migrating over my home in Ocean Shores, but no
>
> > further large numbers on the ground.
> >
> > On another note, I saw 6 Greater White-fronted geese on the golf course
> > behind the theatres here in Ocean Shores today.
> > But no juncos have yet showed up in my yard. The Fox & Golden-crown
> > Sparrows are back...about 2 weeks ago.
> >
> > Dianna Moore
> > Ocean Shores, Wa.
> > dlmoor2 at coastaccess.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> > http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
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