One of the very best ways to begin a morning.
When I visit Bear River MBR I always try to arrive at sunrise so I often hear Sandhill Cranes calling but they’re usually so far away I can’t even see them, much less get them in my viewfinder.
1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But two days ago I had better luck. Only a few minutes after sunrise I found these two cranes feeding in the marsh in good light and at a good distance for photographing two very large birds.
For the first few minutes they were calm in my presence but after a while they both began to call. I don’t know if I was making them nervous or they just felt like making their “beautiful noise” but whatever their motivation, I enjoyed the hell out of it. For me, calling Sandhill Cranes in very early morning is one of the elixirs of life.
I was prepared to get flight shots if they took off but they had other plans. They walked slowly toward the phrags in the background and disappeared in them. And I drove off a happy photographer with the penetrating, rattling calls of Sandhill Cranes ringing in my ears.
Ron
I envy your Sandhill Crane experience! Did you see them en route to or around the tour loop?
Deedee, I found them about 1/2 mile after the beginning of the loop.
Thank you all for sharing your Sandhill Crane stories. I’m hoping that one day I’ll have the pleasure of seeing — and hearing — them in the Ed wild!
I hope you get that chance, Marty.
I am very glad for you – and reading through the comments sad that it is a song I will never hear.
Thanks, EC. I’m sad for you too.
Looks like I’m not the only one who remembers their first introduction to the call of the sandhill crane. I was at Herriman, wildlife refuge, and Idaho, taking a walk to watch some birds. I had never heard sandhill crane’s before and when I heard that noise around the corner I could not imagine what it was. it was so magnificent. They became my favorite birds then and there. Years ago when we really couldn’t afford it, my husband surprised me to a trip to Nebraska to Rowe sanctuary on the Platte river to experience the sandhill cranes coming in at night and going out in the morning , of course it was awesome. We have nesting sandhill cranes near us here in the central valley of California as well. Going to their blinds to listen to the incoming cranes in the evening is still a spectacular experience.
Catherine, I’ve never been to the Platte to see the cranes. I have friends who have and all of them said it was a wonderful experience for them.
Wonderful encounter and photo. That was one of the true joys of staying at my friends getaway in Farifield, Idaho. the sandhill cranes called every morning and evening in the nearby alfalfa fields.
Thanks, April.
Ooo, absolutely the best way to start the day, with cranes! Thank you!
Agreed, Carolyn.
Nothing compares to the call of a Sandhill Crane and I agree that even a recording can’t give you the thrill that a live crane trumpeting can. There are several place here in Oregon where they breed. They are all of the Greater Sandhill Crane subspecies. The Lessers pass through on their way to northern breeding grounds. They once provided me with one of my most memorable experiences. I was on my way to Malheur NWR. We were still about 80 miles from our campsite when we stopped alongside the highway to watch cranes flying into a field. The sun was going down but waves of Lesser Sandhills continued to land in the field. By the time the light had mostly faded we estimated that there were more than 10,000 cranes in that field. There had never been enough light for photos. (Back in the days of Kodachrome 35mm film). We went on but got up very early to drive back and get photos in morning light. We reached that field again just at dawn but all of the cranes had already left so no photos. But seeing so many cranes in one small field is a memory I’ll always cherish.
What an amazing experience that must have been, Dan. The most cranes I’ve seen at one time was probably about a couple of hundred.
The Matheson Wetlands Preserve, and adjacent DNR wetlands in Moab, has been the home of a pair of sandhill cranes for several years now. Some years they successfully produce a young, but it is hard to protect the colts from coyotes, raccoons and the occasional Peregrine Falcon. We live about half a mile from the Preserve and we often hear the pair calling. There is certainly something primordial about their haunting call.
I’ve been to the Matheson Wetlands, Marian. Pretty neat place.
And speaking of Governor Scott Matheson, I was once in his office taking political photos of him and a friend of mine who was running for the Utah House of Representatives. Scott was a character, in his cowboy boots and often cussing a blue streak. I was a big fan of his.
Scott’s brother Steve Matheson was my dentist for years and when I had appointments there I always requested the room where he had a photo of the Matheson Wetlands hanging right in front of the chair of pain and doom.
Many years ago I was out alone on the Carrizo Plain in the early morning. This was back when there was still some farming and cattle ranching going on, and it was wetter back then too. I stopped and got out of my car to enjoy the silence and then heard the distant sound of a lot of sandhill cranes. Did not know what it was at the time though. I could not see, even through binoculars, what they were, so I walked out into one of the fields. All of a sudden this great cloud of these large birds lifted off the ground and took flight. It was enormous, and more and more kept lifting off the ground. I began to quickly count an area of the massive flock to make an estimate of the number. Without exaggeration, there were easily 5000 birds. It was one of the single most amazing things I have ever seen. I did not have a camera with me.
Years later it became the Carrizo Plain National Monument. The cattle ranching is gone, and the tilled fields are gone. The drought played a big role. Reliable water, what the Sandhill Cranes require, has not occurred since 2010. I hear they still come whenever we get a wet winter, but then they mostly stick to the alkaline lake (Soda Lake) to the north. Perhaps El Nino will bring one in 2024. If so, I will be there.
Michael, it’s hard to imagine a flock of 5000 10+ lb. birds with 6′ wingspans taking off. That’s 25 tons of birds rising into the sky. Throw in the “beautiful noise” that many birds would make and you have an experience of a lifetime. I’m infinitely jealous.
That must have been fun Ron. Glad you got to see and hear them. We had 5 of them here in Prescott about 3 years ago and I got some shots of them. I think it was late winter or very early spring, but don’t remember for sure. I have never been down to that Whitewater Draw area near Wilcox AZ to see them. I have read that there are around 18,000 of them that show up there I think in January.
It certainly was fun, Everett. A great way to start the morning.
I’ve heard recordings of Sandhill Cranes’ calls, and they absolutely
DO NOT capture that mystical quality of the live sound–it has an eerie,
penetrating, and primordial timbre …….I would urge sound enthusiasts
to go in search of hearing the live thing…..for me, the “new year” in
New Mexico began when I could hear their fall migration high above
the Rio Grande……
I agree with everything you said about their calls, Kris. There’s simply no substitute for experiencing it personally.
Have never seen a Sandhill Crane let alone hear one. Googled their sounds so I could understand your excitement! Very unique calls that apparently can be heard for a couple of miles! Thanks for getting my curiosity going this a.m. 🙂
Kathleen, one has to experience the call of these cranes to really appreciate it. Words, at least my words, don’t do the experience justice. It’s truly unforgettable, especially up close.
They DO have a haunting call that’s unforgetable! 🙂 We have an occasional fly over of a single or pair and often hear before I see them. Beautiful shot of the pair…..
Judy, there’s a creek running through our Cut Bank farm and as a kid I believe I saw cranes near the creek once or twice over the years. But usually what I thought might be cranes turned out to be Great Blue Herons.
Lovely! I’ve seen the cranes but have never heard them calling…
Joanne, when you do hear them calling, and I suspect you will, you won’t forget it.
What a joy, Ron! There’s something special about the sound of a Sandhill Crane. They are a rarity in eastern Missouri, so hearing them call gives me goosebumps every time.
Diane, I fully understand that “goosebumps” thing.