[TN-Bird] Hiwassee Report for Thursday
- From: Charles Murray <dro_1945@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-Bird <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:58:24 -0800 (PST)
Some of our visitors today to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Meigs Co. at
Birchwood were from Oregon, Virginia, and West Virginia, three states
not previously noted since the hooded crane arrived. Visitors from 19 states,
Ecuador, and Russia have now been at the refuge since Tuesday, December 13,
when the hooded crane was first seen at HWR. At least 48
visitors were at the refuge today before I left about 4:15 p.m. when the heavy
rains began. The hooded crane was in view off-and-on throughout the day and was
in view when I left the refuge. One adult and one juvenile whooping crane were
seen at various times during the day. At least a few thousand sandhill cranes
were also present. When the heavy rains began, almost all of the the sandhill
cranes faced into the wind and rain, and none of them were calling. They hardly
moved around at all. Interesting! I should have stayed until their normal time
to fly out to roost to see if their behavior would differ from a 'normal day',
but it was getting pretty uncomfortable for this human! I'm expecting that the
heavy rains will likely cover the mudflats of the 'normal' roosting areas
around Hiwassee Island and in the slough. I'm not sure how this will affect
viewing tomorrow.
Charles Murray
Birchwood, TN
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