The sandhill cranes are nesting now. The arrival of these birds is a true indication of spring's arrival. Usually we hear them before we see them, and the sound always brings a gladness to my heart. Crane fossils about 10 million years old have been discovered in Nebraska, indicating that cranes are our oldest surviving bird species.
7 comments:
Oddly enough I saw a sandhill crane in one of my fields last week. It was the first one I have ever seen. I live and farm in Western MA and I don't think they are supposed to be around here. Anybody know for sure if western MA is part of their normal range?
Jacob L'Etoile
I think they are an uncommon migrant going north.
I saw the crane congregation along the Platte River in Nebraska this year. Amazing to see 500,000 or so of these birds in one place. I stayed in a blind overnight along the river and fell asleep to the chorus of thousands of cranes.
Matt Miller,
I really want to do that one of these years. I've read about the blinds for rent in Nebraska, and it's on my list!
They are pretty impressive at our Bosque del Apache (40 miles away on the Rio)-- sometimes 30,000!
During the Fall on the prairie east of here, we can see/hear huge flocks of them flying south on their way down to Steve. Usually you can hear them long before you see them. Always exciting!
Sandhills trilling far, far above means fall just as much as the smell of green chile roasting. I seem to notice them when I'm putting the swamp cooler to rights for the fall and end up with a crick in my neck craning to spot the tiny little crosses way up in that pale blue fall sky.
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