Photography
Related: About this forumLook was was roaming in my backyard!
A sandhill crane.
We've had deer, foxes, geese, but never a sandhill crane. How exciting!
MLAA
(17,338 posts)WalkerinSC
(231 posts)hermetic
(8,328 posts)Lucky.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,496 posts)They look so elegant when they walk. Thanks for the nice pix, Callalily. ......
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True Blue American
(17,992 posts)On the top of my neighbors 2 story house. At first I thought I was imaging it
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,726 posts)housecat
(3,121 posts)CrispyQ
(36,533 posts)Lovie777
(12,342 posts)ShazzieB
(16,543 posts)republianmushroom
(13,722 posts)Ziggysmom
(3,419 posts)I remember visiting him years ago and a pair of cranes landed near his home in Northern Wisconsin. He said they were a very strong spirit animal; it is a sign of good fortune & hope, and the universe wants to communicate with you.
Callalily
(14,897 posts)FrankTC
(210 posts)I was on a two-lane highway (M-22) in northern Michigan, and two sandhills (named Gert and Bertie by the locals) launched themselves at me and nearly knocked me off. I'm pretty sure the universe was giving me the bird that day.
Nasruddin
(754 posts)Not sure where you're located. I grew up in upper midwest, NEVER saw them (& back then,
Canada geese were still migratory). Never saw one til I moved to CA (we have a large
overwintering population, and a small breeding population in the Cascades).
On a trip to WI a few years ago, they were everywhere, at roadside rest stops, at heavily
touristed lakes (not just reserves).
Aldo Leopold wrote an essay about 80 yrs ago saying they were likely on the way to extinction at least in the midwest.
llmart
(15,556 posts)We have them here. I'm seeing more and more of them also.
MiHale
(9,786 posts)Theyre all over here just gotta be around water which in Michigan aint hard. Was hiking along the AuSable the other day on the water were Trumpeter Swans, very vocal, Sandhill Cranes, quite vocal, and Canadian Geese, vocal enough. It was loud and the trail is about 150-200 feet above the water so you get a sound chamber effect, hard to describe.
llmart
(15,556 posts)The sandhill cranes make an odd sound, don't they? There is a place where they usually nest and it's in a pond. I can get really close to the nest to see them without binoculars, but some years if we have torrential rains, the nest ends up under water and the momma disappears. You'd think she'd learn to not build a nest there, but every year she tries again.
3catwoman3
(24,055 posts)And they are really loud.
pazzyanne
(6,558 posts)Minnesota wetlands are nesting sites for them.
bluboid
(562 posts)Sogo
(4,997 posts)Where is this? What state?
Callalily
(14,897 posts)Thanks for viewing.
Sogo
(4,997 posts)People come from all around to see the cranes gather by the thousands....
https://www.naturalistjourneys.com/tours/2023/03/19/platte-river-cranes-a-migration-spectacular
paleotn
(17,989 posts)samplegirl
(11,504 posts)So beautiful!
Lucinda
(31,170 posts)txwhitedove
(3,933 posts)yard yesterday.
wryter2000
(46,083 posts)Glad you got a picture of it.
scarletlib
(3,418 posts)We have them in my area. You can walk right past them on the sidewalk and they dont fly away in fear.
Of course I would never approach them with the intent to touch them.
BlueSky3
(515 posts)we would hear them passing overhead, an unforgettable burbling sound pure magic.
Callalily
(14,897 posts)where 100s of sandhill cranes landed on their way to wherever. I guarantee you, the sound was not our magic!
Martin68
(22,900 posts)Solly Mack
(90,789 posts)niyad
(113,596 posts)Kali
(55,025 posts)sometimes they land in the corral and steal the goldfish we keep in the water troughs.
AllaN01Bear
(18,502 posts)Aussie105
(5,444 posts)Dinosaur legs, reptile eyes, little brain.
And not photogenic at all like this beautiful crane.
3catwoman3
(24,055 posts)...had floor to ceiling windows. There were several Sandhill cranes who used to hand out there, and sometimes they would tap on the windows as if they wanted to come in.
It was always a thrill to see one up close. They are HUGE.
They are naturally gray in color. They groom themselves with mud, which is what gives the brown color to some of their feathers.
2naSalit
(86,822 posts)There are some tasty snacks in the grass!
AllyCat
(16,233 posts)I love them. When I hear them in February or March, I know spring is coming!
randr
(12,417 posts)There is a large nesting area not too far from me. They are such a welcome sight!
El Mimbreno
(777 posts)But a small flock of about a half dozen seems to winter along Rio Mimbres about 1/4 mile away. We see them cruising over the river every so often.
Paladin
(28,276 posts)I think it's a damn shame that they're still allowed to be hunted in some states.
jaxexpat
(6,860 posts)I caught a glimpse of what I thought was snow. When I pulled the focus back to check it out, I saw the field held thousands of snow geese with about 30+/- of these red trimmed sandhill cranes among them, towering over the goose "herd". They looked like feathered shepherds watching over their feathered sheep. I looked again for them every year and often sighted them. The western reaches of the island are(were) on one of the *great bird migration routes.
We had an odd couple here in N. Florida a few years back. I always wonder what that story was. Two lost cranes in my backyard, sans snow geese entourage.
*How did I know they were on migration? Because their little placards said, "Yucatan or Bust in '79". Ah, nature.
Gato Moteado
(9,879 posts)great shot of a cool encounter.