Sandhill Cranes

A Sandhill Crane Colt Shadowing her Mom

Although I went to Florida to photograph sandhill cranes, and many other birds as well, I could also stay home and photograph them in eastern Washington during the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, or across the border in Langley, British Colombia at Reifel Bird Sanctuary.

The sanctuary is where I saw and photographed this particular one and it’s one of my go-to spots to photograph eagles, herons, harriers and many others.

Sandhill cranes are larger than our local Great Blue Herons but even so, they can easily be mistaken for herons, as one was when it was photographed in Sequim a few years ago.

Personally, haven’t seen them locally, but the one photographed appeared to be an orphan that was wise enough to connect with another species in order to survive…sort of a foster child, I suppose. So if you think birds are bird-brained, think again!

Frozen birds in Bosque del Apache

Note the bird on the far right is still frozen in the pond.

Also note that it was 17 degrees and said photographer was also frozen in place. It’s VERY hard to control your settings when it’s nearly pitch black and you can’t feel your hands!

A Week @ Bosque Del Apache NM

Sandhill Crane waking up in the ice at Sunrise. The birds had to break free of the ice that formed around them during the night before they could fly to the fields to graze.

I love to turn photos into pieces of art…