Tom Bain joined me this morning early to investigate the wetlands where the sandhill cranes are suspected to have nested.  It was an awesome morning of birding.

First, right on cue at 6:30, the pair were feeding near the road and two fuzzy colts were clearly seen.  They can't be much more than a foot tall.

The next great find came with more difficulty: an immature hooded merganser.  Tom also spotted what may have been a swamp sparrow, but I didn't see it well enough to make a call.  We tried for rails and marsh or sedge wren, without luck. 

I believe we had 45 species, and were able to confirm many as breeding species, despite the lateness of the season.  What a day!

Margaret Bowman
Licking (and a regular Knox visitor) Co.

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