Researchers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will use a drone to survey known sandhill crane locations in Klickitat County to support population monitoring.  Drone flights may occur, weather permitting, during daylight hours through August over identified state public lands and waters in western Klickitat County where sandhill cranes are present.  WDFW will seek approval from private or public landowners if flights are considered over additional lands.  The purpose of the surveys is to capture high quality images of sandhill crane habitat and locate nest locations.  Since 2024, WDFW biologists have successfully identified sandhill crane nests at multiple locations within the survey area using drone technology.  Breeding sandhill cranes arrive in Klickitat and Yakima counties in early March, with most nesting occurring from April to June in wet meadows and grasslands.   The cranes and their young leave the state between late September and mid-October to winter in California’s Central Valley.