Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sandhill Mania

The Sandhill Crane is a tall gray bird of open grasslands, meadows, and wetlands. It congregates in huge numbers in migration. I had never been able to get close to one for a decent picture. Having a little point and shoot camera without even a telephoto that is....... Let's go back to the beginning.
I saw my first sandhills back in the 80's & 90's. There were some resident and thousands of migrants in th fall at Crex Meadows state wildlife area in west central Wisconsin. They would occasionally fly over but mostly were seen in the meadows and fields some distance from the road. I have a few mostly fuzzy Echtacrome slides of those.
In the last decade, I would rarely see them flying over as I was in my fishing boat on the Mississippi River. No chance for pictures then either. Finally, in the last few years, since I took up birding and got a Cannon point and shoot digital, I saw tens of thousand spring and fall in the Platte River Valley on our way to visit the grandkids in Colorado.




















More recently we took a trip to Milwaukee, with friends John and Joanne, for some German culture.... I mean cooking and beer. On the way home we stopped to look at the famous Horicon marsh. There were sandhills in the picked cornfields all along the way. I was getting closer as this shot out the car window shows.
Finally, we hit the jackpot on our brief Florda vacation. Visiting Mrs T's cousin in Sabastian, we headed into town so she could get some pictures of the brown and white pelicans that hung around the docks. That mission accomplished we left the dock to head across the busy and adjacent main street to do a little mall shopping. It was then that I heard my spouse yell "do you want a picture of some sandhills?" "Ya" I replied looking up. And there they were standing on this grassy traffic island in the middle of the highway we were about to cross. Considering all the bad shots of them I got, all I can say is she is either good or damn lucky!

21 comments:

  1. I LOVE these median strip shots!!!
    Stu and I saw our first sandhills at Bosque Del Apache reserve south of Albequerque on our first SW road trip in 1988.
    Since then we have made a few trips within Calif to their wintering grounds in the Central Valley.
    There is nothing quite like having the earth open up and take wing with thousands of cranes....

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  2. There are at least a couple pair that nest in the Pintlar's near here, I love their slightly prehistoric look. Nice pictures!

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  3. Oh you got some great photos..I am quite jealous..I have only far away shots too...maybe this year.
    They are beautiful:)

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  4. My husband just had a great chuckle at this post. We spent February just south of you in Florida (Hutchinson Island) and there was always a pair in the median when we would head out to get groceries....but never when I remembered to take the camera with me. I'm so glad you had yours!

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  5. oops, left my comment using hubby's laptop...

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  6. Wow, you were lucky to be so close to one of those. We can't get anywhere near them here when they migrate - I think they've been shot at..They're very spooky.

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  7. Up close and personal! What an awesome pic. I've probably seen the sandhills in a flock before, but now I know what they look like individually. Thanks!

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  8. We frequently went to Horicon when we lived in the Milwaukee suburbs. Great shots of the Sandhills.

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  9. I feel rather foolish -- I live only a couple hours away from where they congregate every year, but have never made the trek.

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  10. Tennessee hunters want to shoot sandhill cranes. Their hope almost came to be, but an outcry put the plan on hold. Thank God. I have seen the cranes by the thousands at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge near Decatur, Alabama.

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  11. What great good luck! I've also got only poor photos of them, out in Yellowstone and the Tetons they're easy to spook - but hard to miss! (honk honk, or whatever that weird noise they make is!)

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  12. You really captured some great photos. Lucky you!

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  13. Haha ~ the 'city' birds are so much more agreeable in having their photos taken aren't they? Cute! Love the little red tuft on it's head.

    Happy Monday!
    xo Catherine

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  14. Magnificent birds, I have watched them in NE a lot.German Fest possibly in Milwaukee? I have gone to a few fests there, a fun town to play. I tend to eat lots of custard also.Laughed how you caught my Riders song with the yoddle, we do think on the same plane.LOL

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  15. I've learned that sometimes the best pictures come in the most unexpected places (and are often taken by my wife!).
    I'm glad you finally got some closeups of the cranes.

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  16. I'd say d&^%$ lucky. Great shots! I've never seen them up close. Cool red on the head.

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  17. Great shots! Your wife certainly spotted some cooperative birds!

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  18. They are neat birds. Living close to Nebraska we should get over there sometime to see that migration.

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  19. Cool pictures! I've always been a day late and a dollar short when it comes to seeing one of those in CT. I'm looking forward to seeing my first one some time.

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  20. I work at the Bell Museum of Natural History and our Sandhill Crane Diorama looks just like your pictures. Well Done!

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