Sandhill Crane Fly In

Watch this video I got of a whole lot of Sandhill Cranes flying into The Celery Fields to roost for the night. The Cranes look for a body of water that is not very deep, but big enough for them to stand in the middle of at night so they can hear any predators that might be hunting them. I'm not sure of the depth of the water, but something around six inches to a foot deep seems to be their preference. In this video you can see how many come in together. You can see how playful they are, jumping about. Sandhill Cranes have a very loud call. You can tell female and males apart from their calls.  The male puts his head up in the air a little more and calls one time as the female makes two calls. These are one of my favorite birds. I once followed a nesting pair for about one year documenting them raising their young chicks. I will post that in the future.

 

Here is a Sandhill Crane doing a little stretch.

Here is a Black-necked Stilt letting the Sandhill Cranes know they are a little close to it's nest. It was dive bombing them for a few minutes till they moved on.

Sandhill Cranes chasing a Black-bellied Whistling -Duck (center) away from what is now their spot.

Flying away. Most Sandhill Cranes stay in pairs.

100% my original work! Copyright 2017 ® Mark Vance Photography

 I am an award winning photographer and filmmaker. Many of my pictures have been used in TV Shows and Feature Films, such as "Zero Dark Thirty", "NCIS Los Angeles" and "The Walking Dead".

Many of my bird pictures and videos have been used by The National Audubon Society and Sarasota Audubon and used on several TV shows.  Enjoy!