It’s that time of year again!!
Did you look up in the sky and see them?
Did you hear their noise?
Did you see the little red caps?
Boy, you have to look really high in the sky as they fly past!
Noooo. It wasn’t Santa and his reindeer; it was the annual Sandhill Crane migration!
Each fall, the sandhill cranes leave their breeding grounds in Alaska or Northern Canada and head south to southern United States or Mexico. Tens of Thousands Sandhill Cranes make this migration. Hendricks County is fortunate to be just 2 hours south of the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area. This wildlife preserve is over 8,000 acres of marshes and wetlands. Each year, the Sandhill Cranes start their migration from Mid September through December and peak around mid November. They stop along the way at harvested fields, wetlands, and marshes.
The Sandhill Cranes are the largest type of cranes in the United States. Although there are 15 different species of crane around the world, only two are native in North America – the Sandhill Crane, and the whooping crane. Standing three to four feet high they have a wing span of six feet. The Sandhill Cranes mate for life, with the pair and their off spring migrating south together. The young cranes grow an inch a day and reach full size in only nine weeks. Cranes are considered the most accomplished dancers in the animal kingdom (the long legs probably help).
According to the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, the migration count for the morning of 11/20/07 was 13,846 sandhills and 1 whooping crane! Generally early morning is the best time to spot them. This morning I heard the racket first. It sounded like the roar at a football game! It took awhile for them to come into sight, but there they were – high in the sky flying in a V formation. They tend to fly in circles letting the drifters catch up. Great masses of birds so high I was afraid they would tangle with the airplane traffic!
It is good to know that Hendricks County air space is used for more than the just the Indianapolis Airport. So next time you hear an unfamiliar racket high in the sky, look up! Next time, it may even be reindeer!
Written by Linda Sandlin
