COBirders-- At midmorning yesterday (10/7/20) I was virtuously washing our cabin windows when I heard the call of a very distant Sandhill Crane. Instantly I dismissed all thought of windows or washing and ran inside for my bins.
Back outside, I was able to spot a flock of 30 cranes calling and milling around in a relatively tight circle (for cranes), about 2,000 feet above the valley floor, which is about 1,200 feet below our cabin. They did this for several minutes until they gradually stopped calling and organized an orderly flight pattern that headed over the Sangre de Cristo range toward Monte Vista and John Rawinski. (Note: In doing so, they had to fly at an altitude of about 13,000 feet.)
This behavior reminds me of a time many years ago when I saw a flock of migrating Canada Geese fly into a navigation beam near the Pueblo Airport. As I watched them flying in their V, the lead geese seemed to hit a barrier and began to call and fly around erratically. The rest of the flock followed suit when they arrived at what I believe was the beam. It took the geese some ten minutes to get reoriented to direction and in their V. Since the only beams in Custer County are made of wood or steel, I don't believe yesterday's crane incident is related to the one at the Pueblo airport. Any comments are welcome.
Leon Bright
Verdemont Rd., Custer County and Pueblo
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