They're Back...

The Sand Hill Cranes are back and their calls can be heard echoing through the valley.   A group had gathered on my neighbor's frozen pond and I pulled over to catch them on film.  I don't think they expected to still have ice awaiting their return. Watching them closely were a pair of eagles who have returned to their nest across the field.

I didn't want to scare them so I didn't try to get too close.  Sandhill Cranes are the most abundant of the cranes with 8 subspecies so  there is variation in height and weight. This is the species that hang out in our coulee region. The immature birds are more brown and then they will molt and become more gray.

Height:  3-5 ft
Weight:  6.5-14 lbs
Wingspan: 5-6 ft.
Population: ~650,000

If you were here, you would hear these 3 calls:
contact call
unison call
guard call

We have a pair of cranes that return yearly to our section of the creek to do their mating dance. Here's what that dance will look like:

Crane's Mating Dance

I expect things will be hopping here in the End of the Rainbow Valley this spring as things heat up ... I sure hope that they never find themselves covered in oil like their feathered friends in Arkansas. They'd say NO to the Keystone pipeline... and for that matter they 'd say NO to Capstone X2020 too to protect our environment...