Last April was one of the nastiest April’s I can remember. Three snow events caused all sorts of havoc on bird migration as well as “early-nesters.” Neighborhood Sandhill Cranes were already nesting and some of the nests were abandoned due to heavy snow events. (For April of 2018, I measured 22 inches of snow at our house located near Hokah, MN.)
I was amazed however that one of the crane nests we watch in the area was rebuilt in a different location and two more eggs were laid. Unfortunately where they built was on the edge of a pond and two days before hatching, the eggs were consumed by a predator. I suspect it was raccoons (aka trash pandas).
I was hoping that this spring would be somewhat of a normal one. All was good until April 10th when we received 6 inches of heavy, wet snow. I thought for sure we were going to have a repeat of last year’s event, but fortunately the cranes did not abandon their nest. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the two eggs will hatch in early May.
Stay tuned…
⏤Alan Stankevitz