Sandhill Cranes - May 10th, 2022
Well, here it is - my first blog post! This from the woman who never wanted to text! I know this is long but I need to catch you up on so much! So we will start this way…
Late on Saturday March 26th I received an email from the wonderful couple in Ashfield who let me walk their fields to observe and photograph the cranes -the cranes had just arrived!! Needless to say I was thrilled to receive this email and let them know I would head out early the next morning to greet the cranes! Just so you have some concept of their size - full grown adult Sandhill Cranes are about 4 1/2 feet tall with wingspans of about 6 1/2 feet. They make Great Blue Herons look small in comparison.
And so it began… This year I saw them mating during two separate mornings - absolutely amazing! Each morning I would arrive early and peek into the swamp to see if I had arrived early enough to see them still in there (they usually head out of the swamp just before sunrise to the farm fields). Well, this year I was able to see them on many mornings in the swamp while the swamp was just lighting up from the sun rising up over the hills behind me - just stunning! The following are from one particularly spectacular morning…
Well, each morning they would leave the swamp and head to the farm fields until April 10th when only the male left the swamp. I was 99% certain that it meant that the female was somewhere out of my view sitting on the nest in the swamp. I emailed the landowners when I arrived home to share what I had witnessed - I received an instant response - “Well, the female must be sitting on the nest! I’ll check it out and get back to you”. A couple days went by and then I heard from her-she had found a crane sitting on the nest in the swamp! She then so graciously said to me… “Cheryl, if you want to round out your portfolio of the whole process, I am happy to meet you some morning and show you the path to get a good look. Let me know, but probably not 4:30 AM ! :-)”
So we met a few days later and she took me on the path in the woods. I have to say it took my breath away to see the female sitting on the nest in the middle of the reeds in the back of the swamp. We didn’t stay for long and I let her know I would be coming back for countless hours on many mornings. She said - “I know you will you have the patience of Job!” :-)
Sandhill cranes generally lay two eggs ( this pair did) and usually the first baby is hatched on the 30th day and the second one about 24 hours after that. So I started watching the nest and observing the pair over the next 27 days (I only missed 5 days of those 27 days). Sandhill cranes generally mate for life. They are so incredibly in-tune with one another and share in the responsibilities of the nest and caring for their young - truly remarkable to observe.
So now I fast forward to the morning of May 10th…
I arrived well before sunrise totally excited and convinced that today would be the day that a little one would appear. My location this morning, and the many previous mornings watching the nest, was positioned alongside a pine tree in the woods at the edge of the swamp. I waited and waited for the sun to light up the female resting on the nest - as you can see - an absolutely glorious morning!
And just as the sun was starting to warm up mom on the nest I heard the male fly in and land to my left…
After a few minutes he began to make his way over to the female on the nest. The males are darker and taller than the females but overall they look very similar to one another.
As soon as he made his way over she stood up and they both looked down to inspect the eggs. Finally - a little crack had appeared!!
They then both made the announcement that a little one was on its way by flinging back their heads and making sounds like trumpets blaring!!! And on and on their announcement went! It took my breath away seeing and hearing this triumphant announcement! I have heard these calls before and if you ever do, you will never forget it - truly remarkable - they don’t hold back!
It was such a thrill to be there for all of this! The trumpets blaring shot was taken at 6:44am… I knew I was staying for the duration and just hoped the little one would poke out before dark. I texted Lorraine (now that is a tricky thing to do in the woods at the edge of a swamp) - I had to find the right tree to stand next to where I could get one bar to send out a text - “Don’t worry Honey, I will likely be here all day!”
The first of the next 5 photos was taken at 3:47pm that same day and the last one was taken 22 minutes later. As you can see when it all really started to happen it happened fast -and it was the 30th day! That day I was standing by that tree watching and waiting for approximately 10 1/2 hours - I honestly didn’t have any sense of time that day… I knew I was committed and I had a chance to witness something truly very special and it ended up being so much more than I could have hoped for….
I left a few minutes after this photo was taken as the little one ended up snuggling underneath mom and out of view.