I knew by the calendar…
This post is longer than usual… I hope that you can read this when you have the time to relax as this was an incredibly special morning outing.
Let me start with a couple of housekeeping items. First, I stand corrected! Allan, thank you very much for correcting me regarding my last post. The gorgeous ducks were NOT Redheads… but instead they were a closely related species - the beautiful Green-winged Teals. Second, it has been brought to my attention that some readers of my blog may have tried to respond via email to me by replying to the email notification you all receive when I post a new blog post. The email notification comes from Squarespace which is the company I use that hosts this website - do not reply directly to Squarespace as I do not receive those emails. If you want to comment or send me a message please either post a reply in the post, email me at my personal email address or text me. Since this website is not private I will not provide my personal email or cell number here. I read all of your posts and appreciate them very much. For anyone who would prefer to email or text me and needs my contact info please just request that in a post and I will get in touch with you to provide that information as I have a list of emails that have signed up for my posts.. Thank you!
Please sit back and I hope that you enjoy!
I knew by the calendar that the cranes should be on the next by April 10th as they have been each year since I have had the pleasure of watching them. It is truly amazing that this pair flies to this farm and swamp to mate and then is on the nest by April 10th - that just totally amazes me. As I have mentioned before each pair mates for life. Sandhill cranes have beautiful courtship and mating rituals which include dances, flapping of their wings, and unison calls. Unison calls are used to strengthen their bond to one another and to mark their territory. I get chills when I hear these unison calls.
I hopped in the car very early Thursday morning as I wanted to be with the cranes about 30 min before sunrise. My drive takes me 40 minutes and my walk into the woods to get behind the swamp takes a good 20 min at a good clip - needless to say I left very early. As soon as I arrived I jumped out of the car and grabbed my gear and once again put on my face mask! It was a gorgeous morning - NO wind and 28 degrees - I was hoping for clear blue skies and there was not a cloud in the sky when I arrived.
I quickly made my way through the woods and as I approached the back of the swamp I kept scanning the back right corner of the swamp for any signs of the pair. I had no luck until I got to the tree that I also stand by, and there, about 10 feet away from last year’s nest was the female on the nest!
I set up and scanned the swamp looking for the male….. and there he was standing guard just like he always does. I decided to soak all of this in and hold off with my camera and just give thanks for this pair of birds who have made their long migration to this exact swamp again. I decided I would starting shooting as soon as the first of the sun’s rays touched the swamp. You will see frost on them as the temp was still below freezing and they had spent the night in the cold wet swamp. The swamp had a skim coat of ice covering most of the water that was a gorgeous blue because of the crisp air and clear blue skies- it was just stunning. I couldn’t ask for more…
Here is the male…with frost crystals on his back…. I have witnessed so many birds at sunrise and if I am in the right position and get lucky I swear to you that they are giving thanks for a new day. Like me, they. also seem mesmerized by the beauty of the sun’s first rays .… it is very moving.
I now turned to my right to the nest to see the female with her head tucked under her feathers.
It is sooooo lucky to see the female on the nest without anything blocking the view. Once it warms up and the reeds start to grow it will not be this clear of a view. I have NEVER had a clear view like this of either crane on a nest - this is truly a gift and so was this absolutely stunning morning light. In all of my observations over the years I have always seen the female with her back to the sun so that her back warms up first in order to keep the eggs warm underneath her - Incredible.
And she lifted her head and gave thanks for another day…
The male doing some primping and shaking off some of the frost crystals. That perfect beautiful red heart on their heads is honestly hard to believe it is so beautiful.
I looked to my right and the female had stood up! This meant a chance to see if there is an egg or two. Cranes usually lay two eggs - approximately 24 hours apart.
The moment I had been waiting for - when a crane lifts a foot like this on the nest they are usually getting ready to move the egg by rolling it….I could see a tiny portion of an egg!
There it is!
How perfect is that egg?
I loved that she struck this pose! I have seen them do this pose but never on the nest before. Standing on one leg with the other leg tucked under staring directly at the rising sun with the egg exactly lined up near her straight leg - gorgeous!
Now it is time to roll it again…
They always roll it towards their feet…
It is time to cover the egg… they are constantly pulling reeds to continue working on the nest/mound… Confirmed - one egg! I have never been at the nest between when the first egg was laid and the second - this was truly incredible.
Time for the female to primp a little …
I can’t tell you how remarkable it is to see all of this with NO obstructions - I still can’t believe it… and I know it won’t last but wow this was amazing. I knew the time was coming for them to swap positions on the nest as she was definitely spending quite a bit of time time primping… and then she decided to really let him know that she was ready for some alone time so that she could go eat and stretch her legs!
She definitely had his attention with that beautiful show…
At first he walks further away from her….
He went further away from her in order to get a good last drink of water before taking his turn on the nest -
For all of you who have made it to the end of this extraordinary outing with me - I am going to end with a treat for you. I apologize for the exposure as I am just learning how to do video with my camera and I have lots to learn! My second apology is something I had no control over - during this incredibly peaceful morning… during the video you will hear the hum of utility trucks in the distance - it had been totally quiet up until this exact moment! As Lorraine would say to me - Cheryl, you cannot control what you can’t control! I hope you enjoy this as this is what happens often, but not always, when they are switching off duties on the nest.
Two things as you watch the video - 1) at the beginning of the video look very closely at the crane on our right - she is rolling the egg one more time before they switch - this happens right at the 8 -10 second section. 2) The male is on our left - even if we didn’t already know this was the male we would know now because when they do this unison calling he is one that extends his head perfectly vertically while they do this calling. This is their unique call that they sing together based on their bonding as a pair… be sure to turn up the volume on the video…and if you click on the box in the bottom right of the video it will enlarge the video to fill your screen.
I hope that this outing has brought a smile to you all…