Finding the first Sandhill Cranes of fall resulted in opportunities to photograph small flocks as they flew from a shallow wetland to a stubble field to feed. A closer look at a Sandhill Crane in flight, showing its extended legs and neck, and details of its plumage and face. A family group of adult Sandhill Cranes in a harvested grain field, including an adult pair with their first-fall young of the year. The cranes will continue as a family group into next spring – an extended post-fledging period that is common among cranes, geese, and swans. With scattered green feathers on its underside and the outline of a gorget appearing on its throat, it wasn’t until photos taken from just the right angle showed very few iridescent ruby-colored feathers at the center of the gorget, which indicated this was an immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Sandhill Cranes! the first of the season, and there were many; their stirring calls filled the still air with some of the most iconic calls of the wild. It was an exclamation point on the fact that we are in the midst of fall migration, and the first sighting of Sandhill Cranes was a personal highlight, as it is every fall. Again, I was birding at Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where there were large concentrations of Franklin’s Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, and American Coots, with scattered White Pelicans, Ring-billed Gulls, and Green-winged Teal, with about 400 Sandhill Cranes in 2 large groups. There was also a continuing concentration of about 50 American Avocets at a marsh extending to the south of Long Lake, along with a similar number of Long-billed Dowitchers assembled.

It's worth noting that during last spring I only saw a couple flyover flocks of Sandhill Cranes, but during fall central North Dakota has been a traditional stopover region for Sandhills. Also, even though very few Green-winged Teal nest in the area (I witnessed no broods this summer), they have been building in numbers during the past few weeks. It’s also that time of the year when Swainson’s Hawks vacate the high plains to begin their long migration to the South American grasslands centered in northern Argentina. Very few remain in North Dakota by October 1st, and that fact was verified Friday (September 27), when just 1 adult Swainson’s Hawk was sighted along the way to Long Lake Refuge. There were 20 other raptors along the way, including a Sharp-shinned Hawk (an uncommon migrants in the open plains), 4 Northern Harriers, and 15 Red-tailed Hawks, while a Belted Kingfisher was a highlight too.

The Sandhill Cranes were primarily located just north of the refuge, feeding in harvested grain fields and roosting and drinking 2 nearby marshes. At the initial location where I encountered the first small flocks of cranes, they were flying from the wetland to the stubble fields, crossing the rural gravel road where I could park and photograph flocks flying by with the late afternoon sun at my back. That was a special surprise that provided many nice flight photographs of the cranes, the best of them included in the Bird Photography feature in this issue.

With a second consecutive day of prime fall sunshine and no wind Saturday, I was compelled to return to photograph the cranes a second time, which turned out to be an even more fruitful photo session. As I watched for flocks of Sandhills to leave the shallow marsh, I was really surprised by an early sighting of the first Arctic-nesting geese – a flock of 6 White-fronted Geese that landed near about 30 Giant Canada Geese at the crane marsh. Other birds in the refuge area remained in similar numbers, but along the way to the refuge, raptors were more plentiful Saturday. I observed 23 Red-tailed Hawks, including a very white Krider’s Red-tail; 3 Northern Harriers, 2 lone adult Bald Eagles, and toward sunset, Swainson’s Hawks numbering 2, 2, and 3 in the heart of Swainson’s country – all adults, some possibly in transit.

Office Birding

With a very strong south wind Sunday, changing to a stronger west wind Monday, I concentrated on my office work throughout the days and evenings. But even before I sat down at my desk Sunday, after 10 days since seeing the last hummingbird in my yard I was surprised to see a new hummingbird! I really thought the last hummer of the season had passed by, but planned to keep my nectar feeder stocked until freeze-up, as usual; and here was a late migrant to my delight.

Of course, with strong south winds overnight the hummingbird continued Monday; it was a differently colored bird than earlier migrants, and I really had to study the little guy to ascertain it was a young male. With a speckling of green feathers on its underside and the outline of a gorget appearing on its throat, it wasn’t until I viewed the photos I took that I could see very few iridescent ruby-colored feathers at the center of the gorget that indicated this was an immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. With high temperatures in the 80s over the weekend, Monday night’s low temps dipped to the low 40s, which made me believe the hummer might try to evacuate overnight as the wind changed from the west to northwest, but Tuesday morning, there he was again – my first October hummingbird! I mixed a warmer new batch of sugar-water and he continued to stop in for nectar throughout the day.

Finally, Yellow-rumped Warblers appeared in my yard Monday and Tuesday, foraging through my ash trees and sumacs, in force, a large loose feeding flock that continued to filter past my windows periodically throughout the day. What fun to have them adding avian action to my landscaping, sometimes flycatching small insects on the wing. On the last day of September, the first yellow leaves stood out on several ash trees, as did some red leaves on sumacs, with gray and white warblers among them too. As for the mountain ash tree that has nourished robins and waxwings for a few weeks, When I drove by Saturday, no berries remained on the tree, and a few robins were feeding on the last orange berries on the ground – it was a good run.

Locally, at Alices Marsh a 3-some of American Avocets appeared for the first time last Wednesday, with 4 on hand Tuesday, and 7 Wednesday; but they apparently moved on after that. At the same time, there were many Long-billed Dowitchers, numbering up to 90, but few remained by Sunday. The action at Charo Marsh was pretty reserved over the past week, with a shorebird high point Sunday when there were 12 Least Sandpipers on hand, along with 1 Wilson’s Snipe and only 4 Killdeer. An adult Swainson’s Hawk was perched prominently near Charo too, and there were still some Northern Flickers moving through the area with a high count of 5 in a group.

Earlier in the week, I checked back on the American Kestrel territory in southwest Fargo and found a female on the hunt, using all the regular perches, indicating it was either the young female that’s been on hand since fledging back in late June, or the adult female still on territory. She made a nice connection between the seasons, and the coming first week of October will surely show enhanced autumn colors and new birds, continuing throughout this month of dramatic seasonal change. Enjoy some quality birding during these first days of October!

Article and Photos by Paul Konrad

Share your bird sightings and photographs at editorstbw2@gmail.com