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A Common Crane originally spotted on January 27th among a flock of Sandhill Cranes south of Alda has brought in birdwatchers from far and wide. Common Crane is a Eurasian species, rarely seen in North America.
This from Paul Dunbar, who originally spotted the bird:
Dan Glomski from The Crane Trust and I were talking about Greg Miller (of Big Year fame) coming here in March, and talking about a field trip, so I was out that morning doing some early scouting of birds in the area. I had seen the Hooded Crane here last April, and knew there were Whooping Cranes as close as Kansas, so when I saw a flock of Sandhills in the distance, I thought I'd take a quick closer look, just in case, though not really expecting anything out of the ordinary. But as I drove up, there this bird was, only 30 yards off the road (Rosedale) and obviously different even with the naked eye. I hit the brakes, grabbed my binocs, and after making quick note of all the field marks, I was immediately checking for bands or any other markers indicating an escaped bird. Not seeing any, I quickly called Dan to let him know, and Joel Jorgensen from Nebraska Game and Parks to have him put a quick notice up on the web to let others know, because I knew people would flock (yes, pun intended) to see it. And they sure have! In the past four days, I've met folks from Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, and lots of fellow Cornhuskers from Guide Rock to Omaha. So, it's been fun. And so far, I think most everyone who's come looking for it has gotten to see it, most of them as a new "life bird," which is always exciting for a birder. One fellow told me it was #760 for him.
 Some distant birders have learned about the sighting from this American Birding Association blogpost: http://blog.aba.org/2012/01/abarare-common-crane-nebraska.html
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Common Crane Attracts a Flock of Birders
