Sandhill Cranes
These pictures are not very satisfying, technically, but the birds were so impressive I am showing them anyway. The standing birds were at such a great distance and the flying birds were so fast, that the pictures are pretty fuzzy. They were taken south of Wilcox, in southeastern Arizona, January 10, 2005. We were told that about eighteen thousand birds spent the winter in the vicinity. We saw many flights each containing from a few to probably 500 birds. The left-hand picture was taken in dim twilight where they roost for the night (standing in a pond to reduce access from predators). The birds in flight were photographed around noon at one of the spots they visit daily to eat grain that is left for them. The Wilcox area is one of America's three best places for viewing these magnificent birds; Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, in central New Mexico is another spot where they winter, and they stop for a while along the Platte River in Nebraska while migrating from the North. Their wingspan is 73 inches and their height is 41 inches.
