Sandhill cranes

[JV]

We really enjoy our front porch weather permitting.  60 degrees out this afternoon so we sat out there for awhile watching nature.  I heard them first and shortly spotted two flights headed north.  Sure hope that's a sign of spring.

8)

[thecfarm]

That's my half brother. 

[DPatton]

They start arriving here in Nebraska soon if not already. They will congregate by the thousands along the Platte River during March and April on their spring migration. People come here from all over the country (and the world for that matter) to watch their annual migration and breeding rituals along that portion of the interstate 80 corridor. Nebraska is one of the few places where they cannot be hunted. I believe it's because we are the major breading location for their species. They are quite the spectacle to watch during their mating period.

[Texas Ranger]

saw a flock recently on Galveston Island, grand birds.

[Magicman]

I have eaten Sandhill Crane but I could not get past thinking about Herons and Egrets and stuff like that. 

[JV]

I like to watch them flying in big circles to gain altitude.  You can hear the usually before you can see them. We are near the main flight path.  The Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area in northern Indiana is a stop over for thousands of birds.

[starmac]

I have never eaten them, but have heard they are tasty. I do know folks that would not miss a season on them.

[trapper]

No season on them here and the farmers hate them because of the damage they do to crops.

[Ron Scott]

Michigan is currently considering having a season on them.

[Jeff]

Its near 50° here the last day of February, only snow is the piles from being plowed. I'm out working in the flower garden cutting back roses and old growth and raking, and what do I hear?  I look up and there they are. 3 Sandhill Cranes winging their way North and talking as they go.  I am guessing the odd one was young from last season with no mate, or, a lost mate.

[Grizzly]

I expect we'll have a couple of pairs spending the summer with us like the past few years. I don't see them with young and always seem to be pairs. They can be noisy but usually pleasant to listen to. The folks we bought the place from said they tried eating them and once was enough. They'd rather put work into a duck for the little bit of meat than to put crane on the table. I've never tried it and until populations require a thinning I don't expect to.

[Stoneyacrefarm]

We have a nesting pair with young that have been coming up every year for the past 4 years now. 
They are not normally this Far East in western mass. 
I was told they were probably blown off course in a storm. 
It gets a lot of people stopping for a look when they are around. 

[petefrom bearswamp]

They taste a lot like Spotted Owl and Bald Eagle.

[Jeff]

 

[Ron Scott]

 
Campsite Visitors
 

 

[Jeff]

Lots here In da u.p 


 

[DPatton]

Yea, during our vacation in the U.P. it surprised me how often we would come across them along the side of the road eating gravel late in the day. Such a different behavior than what we get to see during their short stay in Nebraska each year.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Never heard of these critters until late 1990s when visiting our kids in Wisconsin.
Took my grandsons to look for deer and there were 2 on the far end of a field.
My first thought was, to paraphrase a kids term, WTH are they?