Yesterday morning on my way to Bear River MBR I mused out loud about visiting another area in Utah where I’ve had interesting experiences with Sandhill Cranes, even though I thought it was likely too early to have a good chance of seeing them now.
But I was in for a delightful surprise.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
There were three of them in this group (I saw others later) that were already dancing by the time I got my pickup stopped and my lens on them. Based on size and behavior I believe two were males and the third one was female but with Sandhill Cranes you can seldom be sure beyond any doubt (both sexes display and males aren’t always larger).
Eight courtship displays are recognized in Sandhill Cranes, two of which are part of a sequence collectively referred to as “Dancing” – the “Bow” and the “Vertical Leap”. In this first shot we see one of the presumed males in midair during a leap.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
The next two photos in the burst caught him…
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
returning to terra firma.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Only seconds later one of the males was at it again.
At first I was disappointed I wasn’t a little closer to them but with three huge cranes in my viewfinder and one or more of them jumping vertically…
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I’d almost certainly have clipped or cut off body parts more often than I did, especially knowing my unenviable track record in similar situations.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
When he landed he had his head turned away from me in the photo after this one because he and the presumed female in front immediately and aggressively went after the other male on the left. That second male made his escape further to our left but that bird continued to display so the first male…
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
aggressively pursued him to make his point.
I got quite a few more photos of them dancing but with that many birds behaving so erratically I got lots of butt shots with heads turned away so I’m not including any of them here.
Yesterday, for reasons alluded to earlier in this post, I expected to have far better luck with Tundra Swans than with Sandhill Cranes but the opposite turned out to be true. There are still many swans on the refuge and a few were reasonably close but that early in the morning they were always at a poor light angle so I didn’t get any swan photos I’m particularly proud of. .
But I’m still a happy photographer because I consider these photos of dancing cranes to be more than just a consolation prize.
Ron
Superseries Ron! Thanks for sharing!
Delightful surprise for all of us. Grace and beauty. Quite a show of ballerinas and, um, whatever male ballerinas are called.
Curious generic name: Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, who hanged herself, may refer to the bare skin of the head and neck….”, the bare neck referring to another Crane species.
Robert Bateman in his book “Birds” (2002) says “… Some have even been caught snoring while sleeping on their roosts.” A consequence of their elongated trachea, I suppose.
Lyle, I found this:
“antigone-named (by Linnaeus) for the daughter of Oedipus, who hanged herself (presumably in reference to the species’ bare neck skin)”
Seems like a reach to me. Or should I say a stretch…
These are very nice! So fun to watch and listen to.
Thanks, April.
Hi Ron,
A superb series – you were at exactly the right distance from the birds.
Their display reminds me of that of our Brolgas down here.
Best wishes from a tropical North Queensland with a cyclone of the coast.
Thanks, Gary. You’re reference to Brolgas inspired me to look it up – the “Australian crane”. Good luck with the cyclone!
Wonderful shots of these huge birds! I like very much the 4th and the 5th images where we can see in details the underwing feathers. Very uncommon bird species in our area, we see them only when they pass by during the both migrations.It’s always so interesting to see them performing their dances. Have a great day!
Thank you, Laval.
T’ain’t much better than a dinosauresque dance party early in the morning! Hope the ladybird was as impressed as I am. 🙂
Marty, my impression is that she was more overwhelmed than she was impressed.
Ooooh.
And ahhhh.
What an amazing sight to see, much less capture.
And, as prizes go, they don’t come much better than this.
Thank you, EC.
Gosh, i’d love to see some around here. I’ve only seen them one time, when i was travelling across Nebraska near the Platte, and there they were in their hundreds! Oh, golly i’ll never forget that. Your photos are an excellent reminder of that day. Many thanks for your dedication, Ron. By the way, how’s the back doing these days?
Thanks for your concern, Nina. My back’s been much better for the last 3 days but that’s only because of the effects of prednisone which I didn’t dare take for a while after my Covid vaccinations. But I also don’t dare to take prednisone for very long so today is my last day on it for a while.
Nice action shots…they are enjoyable to watch and then see how contagious their dancing becomes. Too funny when you see the groups going at it. Heard and then saw my first ones over the week-end! Love those calls. Red-Wing Blackbirds are about 40 miles from here right now…it is a sure sound of spring when you hear their calls. Also the Cardinals have been doing a bit of early morning song instead of their regular chirp. Best part of spring is the calling of the various species.
Kathy, many of our blackbirds stay here all year and their spring behaviors have already kicked into gear.
Really enjoyed this sequence. This will be as close as I get to seeing cranes this season. No traveling for us until we get vaccinated. So, thank you for getting such wonderful shots.
Thanks for playing it safe, Catherine – for all of us.
As long as 8-10 years ago, the sponsors of the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico were noticing that the cranes were arriving
much later in the Autumn, and leaving much earlier in the Winter, leading to
the conclusion that they might eventually have to reschedule the event, due
to climate change…..I guess the trend is continuing. LOVE those big, noisy
performing birds !
Kris, there’s a similar concern here about Swans. Some of our refuges, including BRMBR, have “Swan Days” and some of us think the date for it needs to be moved back a little for the same reason you mention for cranes.
Nice to see these…improved my outlook.
Good!
Dancing Cranes are super. Great series of shots Ron. We had the Cranes here in Prescott for maybe three or four weeks and I did get some shots, but it was very difficult. Due to our long drought they were cavorting in areas of the semi-dried lake where there were hundred of sticks and reeds etc that had grown up from the bottom of the lake that were obstructing almost every photo I took. They gave me lots of butt shots too.
Our four Tundra Swans that were here for about six weeks just left two days ago. Their latest known stay here was March 5 so they beat that by a few days. Was really sorry to see them go.
Everett, interesting to get a little perspective on swan migration from AZ and relate it to here. Ours are still here in very good numbers, for the moment at least.
I’m thinking our four probably joined yours there as they travel north
You may very well be right.
Wonderful surprise to have the Sandhill Crane’s already “there” and performing for you even if the Tundra swans weren’t really available to you. The ARE big, fascinating birds. 😀
Birds are messed up “season wise” this past year or so it seems – hope Freezeout Lake and Benton Wildlife refuge get thawed before the swans arrive – both were frozen last year…..😞
P.S. Much to my Chagrin the little owl is a VERY early Northern Saw-whet owl – talked off and on all night last night.😇 Had been concerned as I hadn’t heard it for awhile during the bad weather and there was a female GHO in the yard.
Judy, after all my years of living up there and returning to visit I’ve still never been to Freezeout. Gotta rectify that some day.
Only time I was there was MANY years ago doing a bit of duck hunting….😇 Big Sag lake(?) – a saline lake not far from here that was a WWII bombing practice range usually gets a stopover of Tundra Swans and Snow Geese. Need a telephoto as, due to unexploded ordinance possibly being there, one can’t get too close….
These shots of the sand hill cranes are fantastic. Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to go for a drive and find some cranes.
Do it if you can, Linda (safely of course).
Gorgeous. I remember when these guys were in danger of disappearing (I think it was the Sandhill) so it is a delight to see them. They are prevalent here at certain times of the year. I loved seeing these action shots.
” I loved seeing these action shots.”
And I loved taking them. Thanks, Arwen.
Outstanding photos. I recently watched a webinar on the comeback of the Sandhill Crane in the Midwest. It is estimated that 875,000 migrate back to Illinois and Indiana alone and that doesn’t count the ones that return to the southern states. Thanks, Ron, for posting.
Thank you, Cindy.