In Celebration of Cranes
Sandhill Cranes in sunset Bosque del Apache NWR, November 2006
A Florida Sandhill Crane upclose and personal
I recently digiscoped a cooperative pair of Sandhill Cranes here in Florida and thought I'd share some crane anecdotes as I prepare to head to these various festivals.
digiscoped with Leica D-Lux 3 camera and Leica APO Televid 77 spotting scope
The bird above scored what appeared to be a large grub of sorts. I always wondered what they were feeding on out there.
Here in Florida some Sandhills have adapted to suburban living, and occasionally a pair will raise its family in the middle of a new housing development. A great anecdote came from Floridians riding out one of the hurricanes a couple years ago. They told how their "neighborhood" Sandhills simply faced into the wind and hugged the ground with necks and heads stretched out. Apparently their aerodynamic shapes allowed them to endure the winds. It was a great story. They even turned when the winds did.
The birds shown here though are "respectable" Sandhills nesting in wet pine woods.
Ever wonder why the birds show all that brown staining?... I scanned past this brown lump three times one afternoon looking across this marsh before the odd red spot drew my eye. I've zoomed in tremendously here with the scope and camera zoom, but to the naked eye this nest was not obvious at all. You can imagine how much different the story might have been if that were a pale steel grey lump!
One of the other great Crane Festivals is held in Socorro, NM at Bosque Del Apache NWR in mid November. This is another fabulous spectacle and well worth visiting for the spectacle of cranes and other migrant species. I'm a bit of one myself... I'll see you out there!
Sandhill Cranes in flight digiscoped at Bosque del Apache NWR, Nov 2006
posted by Jeff Bouton at
9:34 AM
3 Comments:
The cranes have now landed in Nebraska - what a beautiful sight! I recently found a couple of great crane viewing packages offered through www.country-adventures.com for guided tours to view the cranes, a 5 course meal paired with 5 great wines. There is also a package on there from Rowe Sanctuary - both good opportunities to see the cranes up close and have an unbelievable experience. I am headed there on March 3 to view them myself.
Wonderful! The part about how the Cranes "rode out" the hurricane was especially interesting to me. I've always wondered what kinds of things they might do to protect themselves against harsh weather. And of course, great photos of these beautiful birds -- you really did them justice. ;o)
I live in Bradenton Fl, and there is a pair that have moved in to our new home development we have a few ponds they seem to like. They are very beautiful and I did not know what they were. I recently moved from Rhode Island we do not have these big birds. I looked them up and found you site so thanks for the great information. They came right up to me and I fed them some bread, a little scary at first but I believe they were just really hungry. I have some great photos!
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