Experiencing Morning Marshland Music

By Heather Lumpkin, Research and Monitoring Coordinator

In an essay in A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold wrote of a still morning on a marsh which quickly became a cacophony of sounds:

“A pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks, and cries almost shakes the bog with its nearness, but without yet disclosing whence it comes. At last a glint of sun reveals the approach of a great echelon of birds. On motionless wing they emerge from the lifting mists, sweep a final arc of sky, and settle in clangorous descending spirals to their feeding grounds. A new day has begun on the crane marsh.” 

In the 1930’s when Leopold was penning “Marshland Elegy”, there was an estimated 25 nesting pairs of Sandhill Cranes in Wisconsin.  Their numbers had been reduced greatly during the 1800’s and early 1900’s by hunting pressures and wetland drainage.  Today an estimated 72,000 Sandhill Cranes live along the migratory path that runs from Wisconsin to the Southeast, making the Sandhill Crane one of our most numerous crane species and an outstanding example of species recovery.

“Map of Sandhill Crane range and migration routes.  Courtesy of the International Crane Foundation”

On Saturday, April 18 thousands of citizen scientists awoke during the early hours of the morning to travel in the dark to wetland sites across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana.  They waited patiently as the sun came up to hear the trumpets, rattles, croaks, and cries of Sandhill Cranes as they greeted the morning.  These volunteers for the Annual Midwest Crane Count (https://www.savingcranes.org/annual-midwest-crane-count.html) play an indispensable role in helping to estimate the Sandhill Crane population and documenting their recovery.  Now they also count Whooping Cranes, a federally endangered crane species that is slowly recovering thanks to hand rearing and habitat protection.

For the last several years the North Lakeland Discovery Center has assisted with these efforts by coordinating Crane Count volunteers in Vilas County. 

This year in Vilas County…..

-          29 citizen scientists participated

-          20 sites across Vilas County were surveyed

-          67 Sandhill Cranes were counted!

Crane counters also observed 47 other bird species during the count including American Woodcocks doing their twittering, courtship flight and Wison’s Snipe making their haunting, winnowing calls.  But the experience goes far beyond the numbers and species lists.  As one volunteer stated, “There's nothing quite like hearing cranes communicating in a marsh at sunrise - beautiful and so peaceful. Also, being surrounded by all of the other awakening animal's sights and sounds is an incredible experience.”  Participating in the Annual Midwest Crane Count is certainly an unforgettable and rewarding experience.  

Watching the landscape transition from night to day is exhilerating. Once you witness it from nature's perspective, you'll want to experience it more often.

– Jeff Waite

Experience Genesis… try 5:30 a.m. - live the experience.

– Wil Conway

At 5:30 am, I may be cranky, but the cranes are dancing!

– Anonymous Vilas County Crane Counter

Thank you to all of the citizen scientists who made this day such a success!

“Sandhill Crane in Powell Marsh.  Photo by Azael Meza.”