SHAWANO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As the end of the month of October inches closer, many birds are getting ready to head south for the winter.
At a place called Pike’s Peak Flowage, at the Navarino State Wildlife Area in Shawano County, hundreds of Sandhill cranes were on the move Friday morning.
“They started gathering in late September, and with the changes in the weather recently, getting a little bit colder, a little quicker, especially up north, we’re already seeing a lot. A larger influx of Sandhill cranes that are probably migrating down from Canada and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,” said Tim Ewing, Navarino Nature Center Director.
Ewing says the state wildlife area is the seasonal home for about 5,000 cranes, but during the fall migration that number can swell to about 15,000. He says the birds stand about four feet tall, and can have a wingspan of about five feet. He says the wetlands provide the cranes nesting grounds, and protection from predators. The cranes aren’t the only birds heading south. At the McDonald Flowage nearby, swans were spotted cruising the shallows.
“We have tundra swans which are coming from the Arctic Circle, and they’re pushing through,” said Ewing.
Ewing says both the swans and the cranes will be flying south in a couple weeks.
“Typically that kind of occurs with the gun-deer season. So when the gun-deer season happens, it tends to get a little too active on Navarino. So that’s when they tend to head out,” he said.
In the meantime the Sandhills are feeding in the fields, fueling up for the long journey ahead.
Bird watchers say the best time to catch the cranes is early morning, or just before dark.
They say the Sandhills typically make it back to Wisconsin in March and April.
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