JohnIsWonderingNov 7, 2023
Sheril Kirshenbaum

Today we drove to Bellevue, MI to witness the annual fall migration of thousands of Sandhill Cranes. Turn on your sound to listen to their calls, which can be heard up to 2.5 miles away.

These magnificent #birds nearly disappeared a century ago due to overhunting, but populations rebounded & are now stable in MI.

Sandhill Cranes are among the oldest living birds on Earth with a wingspan of up to 6 ft. Aldo Leopold described them as "nobility, won in the march of eons."

Nov 5, 2023 at 2:03amMastodon for iOS
Show threadSheril KirshenbaumNov 5, 2023
For a closer look at these incredible #birds, I took this photo of a Sandhill Crane in 2019. /2
#nature #photography
Show threadJames A NielsenNov 5, 2023
@Sheril Beautiful bird. The ones by you are a different color, ours here in central Florida are gray. Here is a gray adult and tan baby going through my yard back in April 2018. I am fortunate to have them as regular visitors most all year.
#nature #photography #birds
Show threadAnita LewisNov 5, 2023

@JamesNielsen @Sheril

I'm in central Florida, too, and see them a lot as they stroll down the street or in our yard. But, I had not seen such a young baby! Those legs on the baby are so big for it's little body.

Show threadTrevor SchultenNov 5, 2023
@Sheril I've seen the cranes at the Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Refuge in Indiana. Absolutely incredible sight.
Show threadDavid G. SmithNov 5, 2023
@Sheril Pretty sure you’ll like this too: https://floss.social/@danbjoseph/111351852868779153
danbjoseph (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] "... I quickly rewound the tape and then I played it again to see what I got, and I turned up the volume so John and Pete could hear it. And then, bam! All of a sudden, the bird came right back. ... And then it hit me: The reason it came back is it heard another bird. And it hadn’t heard another bird in, you know, how long. And it turns out this was probably the last one there was.” yeah, that story hit me right in the feels 😭 link for others: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/anthropocene-reviewed-qwerty-keyboard-and-kauai-o-o

FLOSS.social
Show threadGrandpa DonNov 5, 2023
@Sheril
we are right in one of the migration routes. This time of year we hear a flock passing over multiple times per day. Sometimes so high you can barely see them.
Show thread68k Nov 5, 2023
@Sheril We get them down here in Florida a good part of the year. I love hearing that sound outside my window at various times of day. 😆
Show threadJavaJonesNov 5, 2023
@Sheril When I lived in north central Florida in the 1970s we had Sandhill cranes overwinter near our rural property. We could hear their calls. This brings back happy memories.
Show threadChristina NgNov 5, 2023
@Sheril Thank you, I've been wondering since moving to MI what bird made these calls. How magnificent.
Show threadMichael Bishop ☕Nov 5, 2023

@Sheril

As a kid I read a book titled "In Search of a Sandhill Crane" and have wanted to see them ever since. I need to make it a priority to go see them.

Show threadSusan SNov 5, 2023
@Sheril Here’s a photo from late summer 2021 showing just how large these birds are...
Show threadderekNov 6, 2023
@Sheril We get Sandhill Cranes all around where I live in Central Florida. They have no fear (as befitting a 4' tall pseudo-dinosaur) and their mating dances are absolutely wonderful to watch and hear. I believe they mate for life, and the usually-single child spends the first year with its parents. Seeing a triplet of Sandhill Cranes meandering down the middle of the road without a care in the world is a fantastic sight. I love these guys.