Sandhill Cranes (1 Viewer)

I went to the Salton Sea(Southern California Desert) a few days ago with the hopes of finding a Sandhill Crane which would be a lifer. I found between 300-400 at the Vendel Road section of the Sonny Bono Nation Wildlife Refuge. It was my last stop of the day and I was so happy to have gotten the bird. My problem now is that I don't know whether I saw Greater or Lesser Sandhill Cranes. I tried to google and got mixed information. The lesser are supposed to be the birds there, but these birds seemed to me to be the size of Great Blue Herons and according to my Sibleys, the Lesser is 41 inches and greater is 46 inches (although to me, the illustration makes the Great look twice the size) I tried to find what other field marks I could look for and couldn't find anything but size to differentiate. So what did I see? I went on ebird and I found that someone had listed as, Sandhill Crane. Can someone help me? I'd like to list my 'lifer'. I believe I saw Greater.
Thanks, Sue
EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to put the location on the title.

I found an article that lists the scientific name Grus canadensis tabida as being present. So I guess I have my lifer.

https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/R..._We_Do/Conservation/PDF/SBSS CCP EA Vol 1.pdf

After a lot of scrolling, I found this:

"Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida). This subspecies of sandhill crane was listed as a threatened species by the State of California in 1983. It is a winter visitor to the Refuge, usually occurring in small numbers within the managed agricultural fields in Unit 1. The greater sandhill cranes that occur on the Refuge are considered part of Lower Colorado River Valley Population of Greater Sandhill Cranes, which is the smallest of the migratory populations of sandhill cranes in North America (Kruse et al. 2012). "

Glad you found your answer, Sue. Wish I could have helped, but I’ve only seen them in mixed flocks. Both the Lesser and Greater overwinter at Whitewater Draw in SE Arizona about 30 minutes from my old home. They are magnificent birds.

Lisa W said:

Glad you found your answer, Sue. Wish I could have helped, but I’ve only seen them in mixed flocks. Both the Lesser and Greater overwinter at Whitewater Draw in SE Arizona about 30 minutes from my old home. They are magnificent birds.

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Great birds with an awesome wingspan and I loved the vocalizations. Funny that they are so like the Brolgas I saw in Bundaberg, Australia. It's weird that some birds and/or families are far and wide and others are only in tiny pockets in the world. Why can't we have Kookaburras?

SueO said:

Great birds with an awesome wingspan and I loved the vocalizations. Funny that they are so like the Brolgas I saw in Bundaberg, Australia. It's weird that some birds and/or families are far and wide and others are only in tiny pockets in the world. Why can't we have Kookaburras?

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Kookaburras would be great’ however, I would love to have some bee-eaters!

Lisa W said:

Kookaburras would be great’ however, I would love to have some bee-eaters!

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