Sandhill Cranes sometimes stray east from their primary autumn migration routes that take them from marshland breeding grounds in the western Great Lakes and central Canada to wintering areas in and near Florida. These birds, 4 of 19 seen at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area over the weekend, may have been blown into the lower Susquehanna valley last week by the strong northwest winds that brought sub-freezing temperatures to the eastern states and lake-effect snows to counties bordering Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Migrating Sandhill Cranes can fly at altitudes that make them imperceptible to us on the ground, and can easily get redirected by atmospheric jets with speeds of 60 miles per hour or more. Then again, limited numbers of Sandhill Cranes have, in recent years, been expanding their nesting range east into bogs and other wetlands at scattered locations in northern Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and eastern Canada. Ice and snow cover could have prompted some of these birds to finally move south to pay us a visit. Incidentally, a separate flock of 38 Sandhill Cranes were seen over the weekend just south of the Susquehanna watershed on backwaters of upper Chesapeake Bay at Gunpowder Falls State Park in Harford County, Maryland. These cranes have been present since at least November 25th and may, like birds in previous years, spend the winter.
