Rare sighting draws birdwatchers to Provincetown

[Donna]

PROVINCETOWN — There’s a red-headed vagrant with a big mouth and colorful outfit turning heads in town these days. And it’s not an outlandish Commercial Street performer.

A stately sandhill crane has been spotted foraging for a good meal around a soccer field near Route 6 and the airport a few times over the past week or so.

The long-legged crane with a distinctive crimson forehead and white cheeks has area bird enthusiasts flocking to the Cape’s tip for a gander at the species not seen too often around these parts. "It is a strikingly good-looking bird," said Joseph F. Cavanaugh III, a Mashpee attorney and bird enthusiast who photographed the crane Sunday morning.

Online bird-sighting message boards have been buzzing with posts about the crane, with some folks even organizing carpool excursions to go see it.

"They are real crowd-pleasers," said local bird expert E. Vernon Laux, a naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket and a Times columnist.

Adult sandhill cranes are big birds — standing about three feet tall and having a wing span of around six feet. Large, grey and rusty-orange colored feathers are hallmarks of their plumage.

The sandhill crane’s prolonged appearance in Provincetown is rare for the Outer Cape, but sightings of the species in the region have increased over the past five years, Laux said.

There have been reports of a few sandhill cranes spending the winter in places such as Cummaquid and Wareham.

A sandhill crane has been spotted at a Provincetown soccer field over the last week or so. It is not common to see this type of crane in the area.

Bostonherald.com

[Bobbie Ireland]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

[Donna]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

You never saw a Sandhill Bobbie? They are awesome. When I went to Fla, they were every where. Beautiful birds.

[Bobbie Ireland]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

You never saw a Sandhill Bobbie? They are awesome. When I went to Fla, they were every where. Beautiful birds.

You don't wanna say anything to make me mad, Miss Donna, now, do you!!

[Donna]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

You never saw a Sandhill Bobbie? They are awesome. When I went to Fla, they were every where. Beautiful birds.

You don't wanna say anything to make me mad, Miss Donna, now, do you!!

Of course not my dear! 

[MAK]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

   Bobbie, don't they have any in Ireland? You should come home for the muck race at Montezuma and then you could see the Sandhill cranes.  I must say now that I've seen them they are one of my favorites!

[Patti from Kentucky]

I'm registered for a crane festival (The Festival of the Cranes) in November in New Mexico.  I'm really looking forward to it, and hope I can get some good photos with my barely adequate camera.  I apologize to Bobbie in advance if I've triggered any paroxysms of envy.  When are you coming back to this continent, and could the Sandhills still be around the wildlife refuges near Rochester?

[Bobbie Ireland]

I'm registered for a crane festival (The Festival of the Cranes) in November in New Mexico.  I'm really looking forward to it, and hope I can get some good photos with my barely adequate camera.  I apologize to Bobbie in advance if I've triggered any paroxysms of envy.  When are you coming back to this continent, and could the Sandhills still be around the wildlife refuges near Rochester?

Patti, I have a pertinent story for you... when I was teaching, one of my little charges was Lisa. She was a funny-faced pixie with a patch over her lazy eye and a ridiculously big pair of glasses. And Lisa, as they say here, was not "backwards in coming forewards". When an unknown adult entered the room, she would attach herself firmly to me knee, squint up at them, and state, most emphatically:

"I don't like you!"

But to get back on-topic - I am told that there might still be cranes around when I am home in late October... so I wait in hope. And you enjoy every single minute of that festival!

[Bobbie Ireland]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

   Bobbie, don't they have any in Ireland? You should come home for the muck race at Montezuma and then you could see the Sandhill cranes.  I must say now that I've seen them they are one of my favorites!

Nope, not here, MAK. I sure hope they will appear to me when I am home at the end of October. And I tell ya, when they do, they will count as Mega-Lifers!!

Oh yeah - When's the Muck Race? (I can do muck... in fact, I do it almost every day around here... and that's just inside.)

[MAK]

Awwwwwww, Maaaaaaaan!

Will I ever see one??

   Bobbie, don't they have any in Ireland? You should come home for the muck race at Montezuma and then you could see the Sandhill cranes.  I must say now that I've seen them they are one of my favorites!

Nope, not here, MAK. I sure hope they will appear to me when I am home at the end of October. And I tell ya, when they do, they will count as Mega-Lifers!!

Oh yeah - When's the Muck Race? (I can do muck... in fact, I do it almost every day around here... and that's just inside.)

Not sure when the next muck race is but maybe Suzanne could answer that. She could probably tell us if the cranes might still be out at Montezuma still when you come home. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you in hopes that you get to see them.