Tag Archives: Sand Hill Cranes

Pictures: First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

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Our first paddle of 2026 was during the day on beautiful Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA, on New Years Day.

A hardy band of five paddlers, some very experienced, some very novice, paddled into the eastern sun glare, then west to the bat tree. We saw Sand Hill Cranes and an osprey nest, but no bats.

[First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree]
First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree

Here are some video clips:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/867635092790046/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTNpYodiJhP/

https://youtu.be/glaea7oHi9g

This was Shirley Kokidko’s experiment in a day paddle on Banks Lake. This is the third time we’ve done this, after 2023-09-04, when I found this bat tree, and 2025-08-23.

Plus the outboard birding 2025-12-04, in which the birders noticed feathers falling from a nest in the bat tree.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04

Sheila Willis and Teresa Aldrich Ammons saw many birds on Banks Lake.

Sheila is the President of the Okefenokee Bird Club and Teresa is a member. Sheila has been very helpful with information about the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge where she used to work.

[Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04, Bat tree, feathers, Sand Hill Cranes, White Ibis, hydrilla, Lily pads]
Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04, Bat tree, feathers, Sand Hill Cranes, White Ibis, hydrilla, Lily pads

Plus some feathers at the bat tree, falling from a nest that nobody had noticed before. They might be from a Great Blue Heron.

Continuing southwest towards Moody Air Force Base, we saw a flock of Great Blue Herons. And a flock of White Ibis sitting on the water, then flying, then one perching.

There were more birds, but I was busy going too far into the lily pads and hydrilla with the 25-hp outboard. Although stalks of those plants wrapped around the prop, they weren’t the worst. That was Continue reading →