The Beauty of Haehnle Sanctuary...before the cranes are even there!

Birding at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary

Continued from Monday's post on Sandhill Cranes.

For the past four or five months I've been doing all my birding by myself, so I was really happy when Rick was able to sneak away from hockey and join me on my hunt for Sandhill Cranes at the Haehnle Sanctuary. We grabbed the wrong address from the website, so Jill the GPS Girl ended up leading us to the sanctuary chairman's house! We didn't bother getting out... Rick immediately got his iPhone out and pulled up the sanctuary's website, found the directions, and then used the map/GPS function on the iPhone to piece together a route to the sanctuary. YEAH! for the iPhone and for Rick's navigational skills. If he weren't with me, I doubt I would have found Haehnle. Driving to the wrong place wasn't all bad though, because if we had driven straight to the sanctuary, we wouldn't have seen those beautiful Sandhill Cranes out in the field from yesterday's post--so there's always a reason for everything.

When I saw this sign I got so excited! Isn't it cool?

I love those binoculars!

When you leave the parking area, you walk through a small wooded gateway that leads to an observation hill. There, laid out in front of you, is an expansive valley of color made even more dramatic by the sweeping cloud formations. As shadows cast by the clouds moved across the open wetland, colors would shift, first greens and yellows bursting, then blues as the sun lit up the water. In the late afternoon glow, the view was almost shocking it was so beautiful. A definite nip was in the air adding to the energy and excitement that seemed to be a natural component of the area.

When we first walked up, two Marsh Hawks (Northern Harriers)

were hunting in the scrubby trees. They were beautiful.

While driving back to the hockey rink, a third swept

past our car, surprising us. Even though the encounter

only lasted a second, it stuck with me. I had never

been that close to those gorgeous brown feathers...

...the water is rimmed by forest, shrubby fields and

a fairly new 35-acre meadow. We fought rain on and

off all day, but that was okay...the dark heavy cloud

formations made the view all the more gorgeous!

In the late afternoon sun, the whole field was lit in harvest

orange and yellow. I think we arrived at the perfect time.

The first two Sandhill Cranes come in for the evening.

We heard them before we saw them. I loved

listening to that incredible bugling sound...

The sun continued to lighten and darken the clouds,

creating a beautiful backdrop for the cranes as they returned

to the safety of the wet valley put aside just for them.

In the autumn, when you arrive in the evening to watch the Sandhill Cranes come in, you will find greeters there to answer questions or fill you in on the area's history. In addition, they have spotting scopes set up to give you a better look at other waterfowl on the lakes and ponds. While we were there we met Stu and Helena, who are very dedicated volunteers, taking part in supporting the sanctuary for over 30 years! Hi Stu and Helena...we really enjoyed meeting you! We will be back one of these days. Hope to see you there again. Stu just happens to be the Webmaster of the Haehnle site and Helena is his wife, so we really learned a lot. Click here to stop by the site for more information on the sanctuary and Sandhill Cranes.