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Re: Another crane sighting



The Fuquay-Varina bird sounds more like a Wood Stork to me and Chris 
Canfield, who forwarded the original description to me:

"Just yesterday, a very very large bird landed in the pond behind my house. 
I'd never seen anything like him before in all my life. He was a wader of 
some sort with long black legs, broad white wings with black feathers on the 
ends, a dark head and neck, and from what  I could see, a largish bill 
(whether it was spooned at the end, i couldn't tell). My entire family has 
been tearing their hair out trying to identify him (or her, as the case may 
be), but we're stumped. After the brutal storms we had this week, I wondered 
if the bird might not be blown in from elsewhere. Can you please help me?"  


> This report was sent for me to post from John Gerwin (Bird Collections
> Manager, NC Museum of Natural Sciences).  It sounds legitimate-- so folks
> ought to be on the look out!
> 
> 
> "On Sunday afternoon of the 17th, a woman in Fuquay-Varina watched a
> large white bird fly into her well-stocked pond. She described it as
> about 5' tall, black bill, legs, and wing tips. The whiteness of course
> caught her eye, but it also appeared to have a grayish cast about the
> neck.  The bird speared at some fish for awhile, but left soon
> thereafter, before she could get a photo or look closer for any bands.
> Although a black beak suggests Sandhill, the stark whiteness with black
> wing tips suggests Whooping. At any rate, the bird headed south, so
> folks might want to be on the lookout".
> 
> -Susan Campbell
> Whispering Pines, NC
> 
> 


-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Box 90340, Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708