We went to visit Doug's brother for Thanksgiving, in a small town about an hour away from where we live. After going out to a restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner, we went for a drive and spotted these Sandhill Cranes in a field. They were probably 300 yards off the road, so it was a test of my camera's zoom to get even this good of a snapshot of them. It was also a rainy and low-light situation, but it was an unusual enough sight for us that I thought even a fuzzy photo was better than none.
Wow! You are right -- a really unusual sight. But do you suppose they were really turkeys disguised as sand hill cranes just getting together to celebrate we-made-it-through-Thanksgiving day? :)
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing find, a favorite bird to see. I like to go over to Grand Island ,NE and watch their migration in March.I spent part of the day birding in a favorite park.
ReplyDeleteSandra-I'm not sure turkeys are smart enough to think up such a good disguise, but these guys did appear to be wary of something. Maybe they had some turkey friends who suddenly disappeared.
ReplyDeleteOut on the prairie-The sandhill cranes are a rare sight around here under normal circumstances, but there is a place called Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area, within a short drive, where thousands of these birds pass through on their fall migration. We went to see that a few years ago, and it's an impressive sight to behold. The spring migration, with the courtship dances, would probably be even more interesting to see. Maybe we'll have to visit Grand Island, NE some March.
Well that's such a cool shot. I've never seen a Sandhill Crane. Now I've seen several. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hilary. My husband has outstanding distance vision, and he spotted the birds off in the distance. To me, they just looked like clumps of weeds growing in the field. When we realized what they were, I just had to try for a photo.
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