Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill crane pair with chicks, Grus canadensis.

So I've been holding onto the wildlife photos!  One of my regular blog readers has asked me several times something like "where are the animal pictures from Yellowstone!?"  I've been back a week, but the wildlife encounters we had were just amazingly spectacular and quite memorable.  I would say it was the experience of a lifetime, but I really hope I get to do this again some day.

During our first hour in the park, after a rather close siting of a black bear, we came across this pair of sandhill cranes.  They were nesting at floating island lake, which is along the grand loop road not too far east of Mammoth Hot Springs.  Many photographers were stopped along the road to photograph this rather rare site.  Wildlife photographer Jaun Pons, who has led many workshops in Yellowstone, traced our path a few days later, writing that he had never seen sandhill crane chicks in the park.  I definitely feel fortunate to watch and photograph these magnificent birds and their young.

Tom


5 comments:

  1. We saw sandhill cranes two years ago in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as there's a population there. I've never seen their chicks, though. Adorable!

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  2. Excellent Rachel- We have a few sandhills here in Ohio as well, but they're pretty elusive. I'm glad you enjoyed this image.

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  3. It's wonderful that you had a chance to capture this moment. The photo is amazing. The chicks are adorable.

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  4. 1 Dec 2011 Yellow Springs Ohio
    li
    Was blessed today. I heard them first...that oh so familiar and beautiful singing...chortelling. Could it be? I felt transported back to my Wyoming where you always know for sure summer has truly arrived when the sandhill cranes call our wetlands home. A lofty gift siting...on their way south, most likely Mexico, as the group headed to a winter warmer feeding ground. I wanted to fly with them...leap up and be transformed as I watched them disappear into the sun.

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  5. Fabulous photo!! Blessed to get the shot!

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