Florida Sandhill Cranes

 

 

Today I looked out of our dinning room patio doors to see this sight.  A Florida Sandhill Crane.

Not wishing to frighten the bird I took a few photos through the glass (and also the screening of the patio), so unfortunately the pictures are not very good.

In the dark photo below I took the picture from another window and you can see how the bird towers above the top of our patio table, which is the dark mass in front of the crane. 

 They are big birds and this one was with a mate, probably a female as she seemed to be busy preening for the camera. 

Now that she has all her feathers in place she poses and looks directly at the camera. 

Here's a few facts about our Sandhill Cranes:

 

Males and females look alike, males are larger than the females.

Height 2.6 to 3.9 feet (80 to 120 cm)

Average weight males 10.1 lb (4.57 kg) females 8.9 lb (4.02 kg)

Wing span 5.4 to 6.9 feet (1.65 to 2.1 m)

 

For years now I've been hoping that Santa will bring me a new camera, one that I could capture decent photos of the wildlife that frequent our rural area. But each Christmas all I get is a lump of coal. Guess I need to start being nicer and a lot less naughty.

Later in the day the Sandhill couple decided to visit our neighbor's yard, perhaps they were expecting to visit with the Canadian Geese who've been away for awhile now . . . We think they went to visit relatives in Canada for the Summer. 

Since this is a far as the zoom on my Mickey Mouse camera will get me (and I have cropped the photos as close as I could before they got too grainy)  I  found a photo online that allows one permission to use its images freely.  The photo below is a magnificent one of a Sandhill Crane and its chick.  The little ones are so adorable. :)

 

 

Photo from the files of Wikimedia Commons

 

The Photographer is Dawn Huczek

 

A New Comer to the Neighborhood

Our neighbors have a man-made pond in their front yard that tends to attract water loving birds.  We've seen lots of ducks and egrets enjoying the water along with an occasional snack of fresh fish.  There have also been Canadian geese and tall, gray Sandhill Cranes.  Recently we've noticed a pair of gray herons enjoying the pond (and the fish within it).  How long the herons will stay is hard to guess as it seems this pond attracts transient  water fowl.

Photo below ... The large gray heron is hunkered down so it looks quite short however it has remarkably long legs and when it stands it reachs a rather impressive height.

Photo above ... I had hoped to get up really close since the heron was right beside our fence-line but this was as close as I got before he or she took flight and found the safety of the tiny island at the center of the pond.

Photo above ... One heron is on the island the other is across the water in the back-ground, both are a safe distance away ... now if they could only get rid of the annoying paparazzi !!!

These photos were taken yesterday Oct 20th, 2011.  Today has turned a bit chilly in the low 70's at noon, was in the low 60's when I got this morning and was 58 degrees outside when I went to bed last night.  However the heron have returned today so perhaps they'll stick around for a bit longer in spite of the cooler weather.  They are lovely creatures and John and I enjoy watching them, though I'm sure the herons would prefer that we weren't such snoopy neighbors. lol

I would love to have a camera with a real zoom lens and I keep saying to myself that when my etsy shop starts really selling I'll be able to buy one.  I better not hold my breath on that one. :D