The most recent report of the Common/Sandhill Crane family I have is from Wednesday, 27 Sept. when they were at the same corner of Seeley Road and Walters Rd., west of Deerfield, on the Salem/Cumberland Co. border. Since the cranes have apparently been present for quite some time, I'm not apprehensive that they will leave, however, sometimes they aren't at the "usual" place: at least one group reported missing them Sunday.

I was able to see the three cranes of this mixed family on Saturday, 23 Sept. I had hoped to have time during the week to post some frame-grabs from videos I made, but haven't had time. The images show pretty clearly that the Common Crane has the twisted middle toe on its left foot which identifies it as the same bird which escaped from captivity in upstate New York in the early 1990s and was seen in New Jersey in 1993. I will try to get this information added to the web page this weekend.

In the meantime, for those interested in directions and fuller information, the web address is: http://www.princeton.edu/~llarson/birdimages/crane/cranes.html The crane family is well worth looking at, especially when they decide to dance and jump around.

I have not heard further reports about the Loggerhead Shrikes this week.