[Maine-birds] Nineteen Sandhill Cranes in Norridgewock

It's not the Platte River yet, but for New England 19 Sandhill Cranes is pretty neat. The farm fields in Norridgewock during mid-late November hosted a flock of 11 last year, this group of 19 being along Rt. 8 about 1.5 miles south of Rt 2. The birds were foraging in the cornfields by the Chartrand dairy farm. Wally Sumner found these early this morning and I saw them between 7:30 and 7:45. At least 5 were young of the year and at least two groups of three appeared to act as families (2 adults and young staying together). The flock as a whole moved northwest into pastures well west of Rt 8 but probably still visible from McIntyre Rd, which runs west of Rt 8 here.

The five immatures showed brownish on the crown and nape, with red only around the eyes. Their wing coverts were extensively golden brownish-buff (adults had blotchy, scattered patches of dark rusty brown wing coverts), and their bills were paler and yellower brown. A few adult birds in the flock of 19 were significantly smaller with proportionately shorter legs and shorter bills but with similarly patterned crowns and contrasting white cheek patches to the larger birds. Identification to subspecies or origin would be difficult given such small birds among typical group of "tabida" Sandhill Cranes. Birds from more northerly populations (esp. the highest latitude breeders) average smaller, but I suspect the size difference I saw was due to individual variation.

This flock is only a short distance from where eleven were found last year by Trevor Persons. Those remained until the 1st or 2nd of December, with a similar-sized group seen over a hawkwatch in southwest Massachusetts (Blueberry Hill in Granville) in the day following the departure of the Norridgewock group.

Louis Bevier

Fairfield

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