What is rare and causes excitement in one area is often commonplace and taken for granted in other areas.

For instance, a roseate spoonbill caused quite a stir in southern New England a few years ago. People came from all over the region to see it. If you visit the right places in Florida, however, roseate spoonbills, while I’m sure still appreciated, are no big deal to the locals.

Conversely, there are birds common to New England that sometimes stray into other regions where they are not common and are a thrill for the people in that region.

Last week, while visiting my brother in Erie, Pennsylvania, I had one of those out-of-place bird experiences. We were walking along a trail looking for warblers and other migrating songbirds when I heard in the distance a very loud song from a bird that I did not recognize. Even though I didn’t know what the song was right away, I knew it was something special as I was certain I had never heard it before. The call was extremely distinctive, loud and carried a long way. 

My brother had his Merlin app activated and sandhill crane came up. I had no idea that there were sandhill cranes at Presque Isle State Park as we have visited there frequently and had never seen, heard or even heard mention of the large birds being there before.

I remained skeptical about the identification as Merlin is not always 100 percent accurate. Sandhill crane seemed very out of place for that location. 

A few hours later, we came across a park ranger, and I asked about sandhill cranes. The ranger said that, indeed, they have been spotted there this year. They are hoping the birds will nest there, the ranger added.

Sandhill cranes are large wading birds standing nearly four feet tall with a wingspan of more than six feet. They are usually gray and often confused with great blue herons, but the ones I saw were mostly brown. 

Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, is known as a great birdwatching spot as it is a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. That’s why my brother and I go there frequently when I visit him, but sandhill crane was not on our radar when we left for our bird walk that morning.

The ranger also told us the most likely spot to find them. Later that afternoon, as we were heading out of the park, we drove past the pond where the ranger had directed us, and, sure enough, a few cars were pulled off to the side of the road, and the sandhill cranes were foraging in the distance.

We returned to the park the next morning just after sunrise. We decided to drive by the pond before heading to the trail we planned to walk that day. Luck was on our side again, as one of the cranes was at the far edge of the pond, but much closer than they had been the previous day. We pulled over and admired the large bird before heading to our destination.

While we were enamored by the “rare” bird, there are certain parts of the country where sandhill cranes are anything but rare. I have seen several photos from family and friends who live in Florida showing sandhill cranes in their backyard. There are spots in the country, such as Nebraska and New Mexico, where sandhill cranes gather by the tens of thousands during their migratory journeys. But, having never seen one before, it was exciting to see one in the northeast portion of the country.

The sighting reminded me a bit of snow geese. While a snow goose sighting in most parts of New England is somewhat rare and exciting, there are parts of the country where, during migration, there are so many snow geese they practically fill the sky when in flight.

Sandhill cranes are not common nesters in New England. There are a few random spots throughout the region, however, where they nest and can be spotted. An internet search yielded a few spots to look in New Hampshire, such as Monroe and Umbagog Lake. They nest in every New England state except for Rhode Island, according to New Hampshire Audubon. While they may be rare in New England, their population seems to be expanding, and you never know where they may show up next.

While it is fun and exciting to see a new bird to add to your life list, regardless of the species, a bird as majestic and large as a sandhill crane made this sighting that much better.