SANDHILL CRANE COURTSHIP

On Thursday, April 5, we took a little road trip to New Albin, Iowa. We drove out onto the Mississippi floodplain just east of town. This area is part of the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge. Towards sunset we were lucky enough to spot two Sandhill Cranes in the backwaters close to the road. They were busy feeding at first and then honored us with a courtship display. We watched them for about 15 minutes and what a treat! Their actions and vocalizations are really fun to see. While most sandhills migrate farther north, this pair appeared to be setting up nesting in Iowa. There are also a few Sandhill Cranes nesting in Houston, Fillmore, and Winona counties. We first found migrating Sandhill Cranes in Fillmore County, Minnesota back in 1994. Since then their presence seems to have been very slowly increasing in this area. See more sandhill pictures below.