Date: 4/30/25 11:54 pm From: Andrew Consler <a.consler330...> Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Conesus Inlet - Following Up on Sandhill Cranes, and a Thought on Neighborly Birding Ethics
After receiving several replies to my previous post about the Sandhill Cranes (many thanks to all who reached out!), I went back in search of Sandhill Cranes Tuesday morning. A very kind birder had pointed me to the cut corn fields on the south side of Guiltner Rd. as a good location to find them. Lo and behold.... there they were! It's not often I go out after a unique bird and find it within a few minutes of looking (for those who remember that Barnacle Goose in Lyndonville, I missed it by about 20min on the last day it was seen hahaha). Anyways, two adult cranes were picking around out in the corn field around 8 a.m. I was able to take a couple subpar photos with the cell phone through my scope, and thought I would attach them to this email since eBird does not show the records. I intend to try and keep tabs on these birds to see if they might hang around, as I have been informed that cranes have indeed nested in some smaller wetlands around western NY beyond just Montezuma and Iroquois.
On another note, I thought this would be a good something for us birders to chew on: While parked along the shoulder of the road, scoping the cranes, an older lady walked up on me walking her dog. I could tell she was a little unsure of what exactly this strange guy was up to. After a rather blunt "what are you doing?" I offered to show her the cranes through the scope. She declined at first, however, I managed to strike up conversation as I grew up in the area. Fast forward, after a time she accepted another offer to look through the scope and observe the cranes, and she was amazed! To me, that was even better than seeing the birds themselves. It might have been easy to get a little standoff-ish at her somewhat confrontational first impression (I'll be the first to admit I've done it). It was a very pointed reminder that a neighborly disposition is still powerful today. Yes, there are very unpleasant people out there who don't really care for birders (especially when we get over eager). And yet, sometimes a gentle response and friendly invitation can turn the situation into an unexpected blessing. This woman had never seen cranes before, which was also a great segway to mentioning the RBA trip in August! Who knows? Maybe she'll come join it.
