Linton —
A visitor from the Far East has naturalists flying to Linton, hoping some good comes from one bird’s bad directions.
An Asian Hooded Crane has been confirmed present at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in Greene County, offering a rare experience for the nation’s community of birdwatchers.
Brad Feaster, Goose Pond property manager, noted the improbability of such a bird being in Indiana.
“This may be the third time it’s ever been seen in North America,” he said Friday afternoon while inside the Goose Pond’s check-in station off Indiana 59. Feaster had just come back into the base from his own search for the bird, which has apparently fallen in with a massive flock of Sand Hill Cranes. “It’s cool that it’s here.”
The Asian Hooded Crane is native to southeastern Russia and northern China, wintering in southern Japan, according to information provided by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Its presence in Indiana makes for a 7,000-mile mishap that has enthusiasts wanting a better look.
In contrast to the gray color of a Sandhill Crane, the Asian Hooded Crane has a red-and-black crown on an otherwise white head, and a charcoal-colored body. The bird is about 3 feet tall, and the International Crown Foundation estimates only 9,500 exist on earth.
Feaster said the bird was first spotted about 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon by John and Ilene Harley of Goshen. Since their spotting it near Beehunter Marsh Unit 5, dozens of “birders” have flocked to the area.
“We figured between 75 and 80 were here yesterday,” he said, estimating another dozen had come out Friday afternoon.
Since the sighting Wednesday, the Asian Hooded Crane was seen again multiple times within the 8,000-acre Goose Pond property.
“They saw it again this morning,” Feaster said, using a map to point out an area on the property’s northeastern side.
And Lee Sterrenburg was among the witnesses.
“I was not on the property when it was found, but I came up here as fast as I could Wednesday,” he said inside Goose Pond’s check-in station. “And I haven’t left yet.”
Garbed in insulated camouflage clothing, with waterproof boots on his feet, the roughly bearded Sterrenburg looked more a farmer than retired professor of 19th century Victorian literature. But the Bloomington resident and former Indiana University professor said he’s been a volunteer bird monitor at Goose Pond for some time.
“I started at about age 9 and then stopped about 16,” he said of watching birds. About 31 years ago he resumed the hobby, and jumped at the news of an Asian Hooded Crane being spotted at Goose Pond Wednesday.
Feaster said the Asian Hooded Crane might have fallen in with a flock of Sandhill Cranes, cousins to the breed. Some Sandhill Cranes migrate between Asia and the southeastern U.S., and the Asian Hooded Crane might just be along for the ride, he said. Whether it’s confused, or wound up in the wrong migration corridor, is tough to tell, he added.
The bird is believed to be the same one spotted at Hiwasse Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee this winter, where more than 2,500 visitors flocked to see it, hailing from 35 states and five countries.
Sterrenburg said recent weather patterns have created “an unprecedented migration situation” for cranes. The birds seem to be acting as if winter never happened, and they might remain until the next cold spell occurs, he said.
Finding one bird amid Sandhill Cranes that Feaster estimates to be in the thousands is a challenge. The Goose Pond property sprawls across 8,000 acres of wetlands and prairie, interspersed with privately owned land.
Greene County Road 100 South is more dirt than gravel, lined with barren trees tracing fields of bean stubble. On a dark brown hill contrasted by smoky sky, hundreds of black dots moved about the ground, discernably cranes. But spotting the tell-tale red-and-black crown amid the flocks is tough given the distance between public road and private property. On other spots along Greene County Road 1100 West, the birds were closer to the road, visibly gray in body.
Ken Kusmer, a reporter for the Associated Press in Indianapolis, described himself as a “birder” after parking his vehicle in the middle of the road to ask if the bird’s location was known that afternoon. On his day off, he’d driven down to Linton to see if he could spot it. Sandhills, “whoopers” and other types were all observed, “but I haven’t seen the Asian yet,” he said.
Feaster advised visitors seeking the bird to check in at the Beehunter Marsh information booth near the intersection of Greene County roads 200 South and 1000 West.
According to information provided by the DNR, birdwatchers should avoid harassing the birds and respect private property boundaries.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Birds of a feather: Sandhill Cranes line a ridgetop southeast of Linton in the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife area. A rare bird, the Asian Hooded Crane, a native of southeast Russia has been seen with the migrating sandhills the past three days.
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Loafing: Part of the flock of migrating sandhill cranes rests in a field south east of Linton near the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area. In with the flock has been seen an asian crane, the hooded crane.
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Brad Feaster, property manager of the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife area.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis An eyewitness: Longtime birdwatcher Lee Sterrenburg, computer in his lap, has seen the Asian Hooded Crane three days this week. The Beehunter/Goose Pond area south and east of Linton is where the bird, extremely rare in North America has been seen in Greene County in what he calls an “unprecedented migration situation.”
Discussion
Craning for a rare glimpse
‘Birders’ flock to Greene County for Asian Hooded visitor
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