The Sandhill Cranes were nesting in the front pond on the property and the chicks finally hatched.
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Cute little buggers.
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Printable View
The Sandhill Cranes were nesting in the front pond on the property and the chicks finally hatched.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8705/...d54d2c0b_c.jpgDSC_8317
Cute little buggers.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7660/...3f3d5447_c.jpgDSC_8318
So I decided to follow them around a bit. I could get no closer then about 100 feet without upsetting the parents.
Crossing the driveway.
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The parents
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Where is it mom
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Right here. I will hand it to you.
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Look, dad give me a grub
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Darn, it is stuck on my beak
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AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! did I SAY THATS AWESOME ?
One of my favorite birds and just so neat to see them with chicks.I have only been able to see adults. Beautiful!
Al
Great photos ! I hope both chicks make to adulthood
Thanks for sharing Pat.
Very nice Pat. What focal length?
We should have Sandhill Cranes here in a month or three. I just saw my first Curlew on Friday which means summer is officially here :)
Thanks Dave, we have Sandhills here all year. They have made a huge comeback over the last 20 years. I was used a AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6GII ED if that answers your question. I was zoomed all the way out for the most part and many of the pictures were a bit out of focus. Still very much a beginner at photography. :)
Pat
It does, if you were zoomed all the way out you would have been at the 200mm focal length as that lens is an 18mm-200mm focal length super zoom lens (super because of the huge range from wide angle to a telephoto) Pat, you can't fool me, you are no beginner, you have an eye for composition, you make your camera work for you, and while you are still learning so are the rest of us :)
Aw, thanks Dave :D. I have drawn and played in different media since I was a kid so to some degree composition cames a bit natural to me. With these birds I followed them around for quite a while waiting for some nice shots but I was at the limit of my lens. Did manage to get some ok shots :)
Pat
Great series. An awesome thing to be able to see. I have never seen them with chicks but I have had a chance to see them wintering in NM.
Hopefully you will get to spend some more time with them.
Thanks Stan, I too hope they hang around for a while. Saw another pair yesterday with two very large chicks so this pair is a bit late but may have better chances of keeping both chicks with warmer weather.
Pat
I missed this earlier. Very nice set Pat. I'm so jealous that I couldn't photograph these beautiful birds!
Took two videos of the parents with chicks. I wasn't sure it I would find them but they were right where I left them yesterday. In this first video you will see one of the parents defend the family against a cat. It was my cat. Blaze would not have bothered the birds but the parents do not know that. They only want the cat out of their space. The cat followed me and I did not know that until I saw one of the parents become alert.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgDWubtCURc
Pat, here is another option Sigma 70-300 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._DG_Macro.html $169.00
I had the Tamron and now have the Sigma as I killed the Tamron.
Also Keh.com has a few old 600mm f8 mirror lenses (manual focus) that are fun for birding and they have a strange bokeh (around $150.00).
In this video the parents are feeding the chicks. You will see the parents pick grubs and offer it to the chicks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0cKl7yleWo
There is a pair of these along a rural highway in my county and for some reason they nested about 10 feet from the edge of the pavement. Every day when I drive by they're standing there with their chick. I'm afraid it's going to get hit. :(
Funny, my family has incorrectly called these whooping cranes for years, probably since my grandpa was a kid. Unfortunately the whooping crane numbers are critically low here and I don't think I've ever seen a real one alive in the wild.
I have not seem one either Ryan but understand they do have a population of them in Osceola county.
Pat
My best hunting grounds for these have always been Myakka River State Park and surrounding areas in FL. ..I have taken many pics of them over the years..but thats the only place I ever could get close.Beautiful birds.
Al, did you see the videos a couple of posts up?
Pat
wonderful pics and video! My kids spent the morning trying to walk around the house like these guys!
Found the cranes late in the day and only had my iphone...
Kids are at the waters edge being kids :)
Attachment 86874
Attachment 86875
Those chicks are growing fast... amazing how quickly birds fledge and fly away!!
al
Found them close today...
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Tough being the little guy
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I'm going to be just like my daddy some day.
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Hey mom, wait for us
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Where's that grub
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My family
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Very beautiful birds. TFS Pat. I hope you can watch them progress while they are in your area :)
From the photos, I get the impression one chick is distinctly bigger then the other?
al