I don’t have many flight shots of Sandhill Cranes that really please me because most of them have plain sky as background or there’s no light under the wings or the birds are flying mostly away from me soon after take-off. And some of the images I’ve kept of these birds have more than one of those “flaws”. I like this photo partly because it has none of them.
1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4tc, not baited, set up or called in
The image was taken just over two months ago near Capitol Reef National Park as the crane was flying in to feed in an agricultural field. There’s a high plateau in the lower background to provide some interest, there’s light under the wings because the image was taken soon after sunrise as the bird banked in flight and the crane is flying mostly toward me as it came in to land. And it was close enough that I was able to get good detail. I posted a different but similar image of this bird a couple of months ago but I liked this one too.
I started thinking about Sandhill Cranes for this post because a few days ago I drove through some of the mountain valleys in the Wasatch Range where I usually see these birds this time of year and they seemed to be totally absent. I hope that was just a happenstance of observation and not an actual fact. Earlier this spring I did see a lot of them migrating through.
Ron
Ron – this is absolutely stunning. What a beautiful bird. I’ll try to be quick in telling my first Sandhill experience – Had been in a wetland area for a few hours driving roads looking for the cranes. Almost time to head home and something odd catches my eye. Rather far off into a farmer’s field almost to the other fence line there seems to be movement but it didn’t reveal any silhouette. I stopped the car and just said OMG there they are, lots of them. I tried to piece this scene together it went on and on as I scanned in either direction from where I first saw movement. There were Sandhill Cranes lined up across at least half the field and from where I was I couldn’t tell how many deep they stood. To be conservative I’ll say 6-8 deep. This explains why I couldn’t make out any shapes or silhouettes. Then they started departing for their nightly roosting area, in groups of anywhere from 5 to 20 at a time and they flew right directly over our heads, all of them. Honking continued from the birds that were yet to depart but the ones that flew over were mostly silent. It was nothing short of spectacular. Oh did I mention this was just before sunset and they were flying from east to west. Photography perfection!!! We were only able to stay and observe for about an hour and there was still quite a number that had yet to take to the skies. I really would have liked to see this to it’s end but alas it was time to make the 2 hr drive home. One of my best wildlife memories.
Thanks very much, Patty, Charlotte, Keith, Annie and Elephant’s Child!
Incredible shot – and I love those splayed feathers at each wing tip. Fingers and toes crossed that the cranes are delayed rather than absent.
Amazing shot!
Hi Ron
Very nice flight shot. Come down for a visit this winter, and I promise we could add a few flight shots of Sandhills cranes to your portfolio!
Keith
Sensational shot Ron! Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte
Lovely shot…like an old Chinese print…am hoping that the reason you haven’t seen them this year is weather-related and they will show up soon. I’m getting more and more depressed about the way things are going, about the stupidity and blindness that leads to economic greed and politically based, rather than intelligent, scientifically based actions and in actions…In some ways I just don’t get it, but in others, sadly, I’m pretty sure I do.
I’m with you on this, Patty. And I am certain that the reason you don’t get that crap because you are not that kind of person. Your values are in the right place. 🙂