Tag Archives: Sandhill cranes

Morning Snow

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Sandhill Cranes morning flight Bosque Del Apache

On an early December morning a group of Sandhill cranes left for their daily flight to the feeding fields near Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife refuge. It was bitter cold on the high desert near Soccoro, New Mexico and an unusual light snow was falling on the ponds where the Sandhills had spent the night.

Sandhill Cranes can appear ungainly in certain activities but when they take flight they are the epitome of grace and beauty. Similar to cranes in Asia, most notably in Japan, they are very similar in appearance to their Japanese cousins the Red Crowned cranes. The difference being Red Crowned cranes have black tail feathers that droop like a bustle where as the Sandhill crane has straight shorter tail feathers.

This is a photograph reimagined into an art image by the use of software programs and hand manipulation of the elements of the images on the computer. The purpose being to elevate a normal photograph into a vision that brings out the emotional content of the scene while still keeping the primary elements, the cranes, in their original captured state. In other words, Birds in Art.

Icarus Rising

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Sandhill cranes are known for being steady, unadventurous birds that tend to go about their lives with a minimum of disruption. They make their migration to and fro and get it done with workman-like precision. They seem to be humorless creatures rather like one of those farming societies that believe work is the joy of life. They dress in gray because that is the least colorful color they can find and they cover their heads with a small cap of red, which signifies the heat of eternal damnation unless they fill their waking hours with productive endeavors. They form small groups of closely knit family members instead of the giant flocks of thousands as the gypsy-like Snow geese do. They are steady, capable, unimaginative birds. They are a plain bird.

But, and you knew there was a but, there is always one that thinks differently, wants more, needs excitement in his life, needs to capture that thing that is missing in his existence. He isn’t aware of what that thing might be he just feels it all the time, gnawing at his complacency, urging, no demanding, that he go and find that which is missing in his life. He ignores the pleas and gentle warnings that he is putting his standing with the family at risk. Even stern remonstrations do not sway him. He must live the way he feels,which in this case is away from the confining, stifling structure of his peers.

He is known by those who observe these things as a bird that does not keep regular hours. He is Icarus and must fly to the sun. He will try and try until he has no strength left, then he will try once more. I kind of like the guy.

When Sandhill Cranes Play Practical Jokes

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Sandhill cranes are interesting birds. There is much known about them, their migration routes, their mating habits, their principal diets, what they like to watch on cable. But what most people aren’t aware of, and has seldom been reported, is that they have an extremely high propensity for practical jokes. That’s right. They screw around with each other constantly.

*The Institute has a researcher permanently stationed at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to watch for and record events just like this. This is why our phones are constantly ringing with people from Audubon, Western Birds, Birds International, Birds Birds and More Birds, Teenage Birds, Bird Watcher’s Journal, and numerous other publications, to ask what new discoveries have we made and can they piggy-back on our research. We always say “No, Go do your own research.” as we have been duped before from people saying one thing and doing another, then stealing our research for their own enrichment, so we don’t trust them.

In the corroborating photo above you can see a Sandhill Crane actually caught in the act of playing a practical joke on one of his friends. This is an old joke, where the first Crane leaves a disgusting present for the second crane on his doorstep, then rings the bell and runs. The second crane finding the disgusting pile left on his doorstep responds in a particularly hilarious way, at least to Sandhills anyway. His surprise and outrage can be heard for miles as he bellows how he ‘will get’ the perpetrator of this obnoxious joke.

This old but reliable joke provides much hilarity for any one observing it and gives the offending joke player something to laugh about for days. Retelling the story down at the bar will get him free drinks of pond water for days and days, or at least until somebody else plays a better joke on someone anyway,

This is just one small bit of information we pick up and store in our knowledge storing database. Soon we will have amassed as much pertinent data on all the species we observe that will rival The Smithsonian, or the NSA which has its own database on bird and animal migratorial behavior, especially those groups that cross international borders on their migration routes. You never know when some kind of subversive bird will try and insert itself into one flock or another to do ‘god knows what’ to free people everywhere.

We are pleased to be able to bring you this new insight into Sandhill Crane behavior. This what we do here at the Institute, and you can rest assured we will be posting many more new items on bird and animal behavior as we make them up in the future. Thanks for tuning in. Remember, “We are The Institute and we’re here to help”

* Note: For those of you unfamiliar with The Institute and what it does, please see the page labeled The Institute on the Menu Bar above. That should explain everything. You shouldn’t have one single question remaining regarding The Institute after reading it. None. For those of you favored few who already know about the Institute, Nevermind. Return to your daily activities. Thank you for your support.

Quartering Into The Rising Sun

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It was a brisk frosty morning at Bosque del Apache when the sun got to the point where  the Snow geese began to rise up into the air and head for their feeding grounds. Brisk was nearly a misnomer as brisk was about 27-28 degrees with a wind coming out of the Southeast at about 25 miles per hour. This probably felt like a mild spring day for the Snow geese but it felt pretty damn brisk for the photographers. Hiking or jogging or moving quickly in these conditions lessened the feeling of being cold, but standing in one place not moving, waiting for the action to start so you could go to work, was what some might call a miserable experience.

They say that you need to dress for the cold in order to be comfortable in conditions like this. Wearing both your 800 count down coats, and sorrels stuffed with heating pads and a hat a Russian would be proud to wear, made it just possible to stand out there for the two or three hours needed to catch the morning flight schedule of the Snow geese and the Sandhill cranes. Drinking several thermos’ of boiling hot tea helped a little. There was many a longing glance cast back at the vehicle with its heater and the promise of warmth, but the deal was you needed to stand there because even if you so much as looked away at the wrong moment you could miss the shot of the trip. Yes we know there is a certain amount of masochism involved in this profession. Yes we know we brought this on ourselves, yes we know that all you had to do was turn around and walk back to the truck and this would all be over. But that would be like a Seal candidate ringing the bell. It meant failure and for those diehards among us, that is not acceptable. So we stamp our feet, bitch to each other about how cold it is, and curse the birds for not hurrying this business up, and then it happens.

One by one the Sandhills take off, then the Snow geese rise en masse with a fluttering roar as thousands of wings beat together lifting them skyward, their calls to each other a deafening cacophony of sound, and just like that the big part of the business of shooting them is over. That’s when the newbies, and those who came for just that portion of the morning flight pack up and gratefully head to the warmth of their vehicles. There is usually some good-hearted banter between those that are leaving and the few of us that stay for that extra shot or two. “What, You didn’t get enough pictures yet?” “Cold enough?” “Forget where your car is?” “Feet froze to the ground?” Um, it’s over, dude, go home.” “I’m going for breakfast, Eggs, potatoes, sausage and bacon, some toast and really hot coffee. What are you going to do?”

But you been here before and this isn’t your first rodeo. You know that some of the best shots of all are still possible as the stragglers leave, one by one. The light is still good. Better in fact for the kind of shots left to take. Like this one of a lone Snow goose quartering into the rising sun as it hurries to catch up with its flock. The sun hits it full on, making the white feathers on its head and breast glow in the early morning light. Showing the single-minded determination to do what it was born to do. A perfect example of the grace and power of its species.

Now you can go back to the truck. Now you can turn the heater up to the fattest part of the red line that says hot. And you can go find that last guy who taunted you with breakfast. Maybe you can even talk into buying or you’ll tell everyone what a wimp he was for leaving early.

Things In Motion

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To some of you this may simply look like a bunch of Sandhill cranes doing the Wave, but it’s not. It is something much deeper than that. It’s more than four beautiful birds taking off into the first light of dawn, or a study of fluid dynamics during take off as applied to big fat, heavier than air, cranes. No, it is the cranes way of paying homage to the early ground-breaking work of Eddie Jim Muggeridge or as he later became known, Eadweard James Muybridge, the father of stop-motion imaging.

Muybridge was a fascinating guy who was instrumental in the development of motion pictures or as we now know them, Movies. His early work in stop-motion studies where he was the first to photograph animals in motion then turning the individual photographs into a short movie, plus several inventions that he created such as the zoopraxiscope, which as everyone knows was a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography, led to fame and fortune as one of the movie business’s first moguls.

Once you are sexually aroused, buy cialis will start showing its effect within few couple of hours. Sometimes when partners don’t have small children they try out to work via the addiction, nonetheless, with kids and based on the severity, it can be most likely dangerous for the kids to ensure sufficient funds for the welfare of senior citizens. http://davidfraymusic.com/project/david-is-back-in-the-studio/ cheap viagra Smoking will viagra prescription http://davidfraymusic.com/buy-2224 slow down the path or worse shut it off completely leaving its victim impotent. Are they recommending some other online institute for the same course? Have they mentioned the reason why? cialis discount price Collect as much information as possible. He was also one of the first true photographic adventurers and multi-taskers working in this field, finding time to photograph the west, travel to South America, get in a stagecoach accident that some say left him a little goofy from his injuries, invent a lot of movie stuff, shoot his wife’s lover to death, give lectures, get divorced, and take pictures of naked men, and occasionally women, running and jumping, which some folks thought was absolutely scandalous at the time, and finally going to England where he was born and dying.

His efforts photographing running horses and other animals and stark-naked people cavorting in the name of science led to his publishing two popular books of his work, Animals in Motion (1899) and The Human Figure in Motion (1901), both of which remain in print over a century later. These books are still used constantly today by artists, sculptors, budding filmmakers and people who just like to look at naked men and women running around doing stuff.

Sandhill cranes, who are great students of art history besides being more than adequate flyers, pay tribute to Muybridge’s work and genius each morning when they take of in a perfect recreation of one of his first studies of birds in flight. They, and we here at The Institute, are determined that his work shan’t be forgotten. We say “Well done, Eddie Jim, we salute you!”, and “Thank you for showing us Things In Motion.”

 

I may Be A Pig But I Love You

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“I may be a pig, but I love you”. That’s what we heard, that and other porcine endearments that were floating in the air at Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge as these two Javelina displayed their affection for each other in open courtship. It was a surprise to find them at the refuge as Bosque del Apache is primarily known for birds. Snow geese, Ross’ goose, Sandhill cranes and the occasional Tundra swan, not to mention every variety of Hawk and eagle, egret and duck, owls, pigeons, goatsuckers and songbird you can imagine.

But not Javelinas. Especially not Javelinas in love. It was unmistakable, they were unabashedly involved with each other, rubbing their flat little pink snouts together, snuffling, standing side by side and stroking each others back with their necks, giggling and muttering little piggy names to each other as they made plans for Javelina trysts.

As we watched they continued as if we were not there, oblivious to everything but each other. When their passion reached a fever pitch they would discretely move off into the brush to be alone then come back out trying to act as if nothing had happened. Yeah, right, we knew. They couldn’t hide it. Like we couldn’t tell that they were Javelinas in love. Occasionally they would stop and watch us for a moment or two, pose for pictures, then become enraptured with each other again and head for the brush. Finally it just became embarrassing and we left.

Spring is slowly coming and with it signs of love are everywhere. If you go south from Colorado in a straight line you will eventually encounter Spring. It will be a solid line that stretches roughly east to west. On one side of it, usually the south side, you will see flowers, and bees messing around, and song birds making suggestive sounds to each other, and lots of love, and on the other side, normally the north side, you will find snow and cold and brown grass, grumpy people and very little love. Right now that line is about twenty miles north of the Mexican border, however each and every day it moves north a little bit. But soon, uh huh, soon it will make its way north toward us and maybe you even, and it will be bringing you-know-what with it. That’s right, Pigs in Love.

Now before you get the wrong idea, it’s not just pigs that get in love, it ‘s everything. Name a creature and when spring hits it, it’s in love. You have to be careful your very own self when you go outside in spring because it doesn’t play favorites, if you’re in the way it’s going to hit you, and before you know it, Whammo Sammo you’re in love and probably out in the bushes somewhere. You’ve been warned, if it can get pigs it can get you. So watch out.

Last Tango In Bosque

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Sandhill cranes are one of the bird species that uses dance as part of their mating ritual. Many species do this but since we’re talking about Sandhill cranes we don’t care about them. In fact let’s ignore them entirely. They can get their own post from some other blogger.

Sandhills have a unique childhood as they are constantly uprooted, traveling back and forth between various nesting and feeding grounds, never staying in one place for more than a few months. They are the avian equivalent of the Roma or as they ‘re more commonly known, travelers, or gypsies. Consequently they have developed some bad habits such as stealing grain out of farm fields, throwing raucous parties where they spend the day singing ribald songs and dancing, and consequently are unwelcome in many of the areas they frequent.

It’s the dancing we’re addressing in this post. The uninhibited, wildly abandoned, provocative dancing. This is primarily a “G” rated blog but occasionally we come across behavior that we simply must point out so that you, the reader, can take what ever protective measures you choose to keep your children, or even yourselves, from being unduly influenced by this hedonistic display of licentiousness.

We were shocked when we came across this overt display in the normally sedate Bosque del Apache bird refuge in southern New Mexico. This is a place where thousands of birds congregate during the winter. Snow geese, Ross’s goose, ducks of all kinds and you could move from one place in the refuge to another and see these various birds and ducks behaving in a civilized, normal manner, and aside from an infrequent squabble, never exhibiting any aberrant behavior.

But then this quiet garden of Eden was discovered by the travelers, or lets call a bird a bird, the Sandhill cranes. Suddenly the harmony of this gentle resting place was shattered all to heck, excuse us but an event like this moves us to use harsh language, by the arrival of flocks upon flocks of these noisy, argumentative, unapologetic, cranes and everything changed.

Suddenly the blatant exhibition of their sexually charged mating rituals, which they held right out in the open for anyone to observe, was rampant. Everywhere you looked there was dancing, and as the more worldly among you surely know what that leads to, we don’t need to follow that path to its conclusion.

Surely a group of individuals whose moral compass has gone so wildly astray could not prevail but sadly, that is not the case. Due to their unrestricted behavior there are now thousands more of these Sandhill cranes and there has been a huge effect on the surrounding areas. Where once this had been a quiet farming area, now the fields are decimated by the hungry opportunistic cranes. Farms have been abandoned and the empty homesteads litter the edges of the refuge. What were once prosperous farms have been turned into the playgrounds of these dancing, squawking, devil-may-care, footloose wanderers.

Above you can see two of these young cranes beginning what is one of the favorite dances of these unfortunately immoral birds, the Tango. Brought up from South America by a group of Argentinian travelers and introduced to their naive American cousins this new dance has swept through the flocks like the pox it is. Now you can see countless pairs of Sandhills performing this dance before heading into the privacy of the surrounding reeds to complete their mating ritual.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any antidote to this terrible affliction and all we can expect is to see more and more of it in the future. One hesitates to use the word shameful on a group of individuals whose only way of defending their actions is by a strangled sort of gargling that is their voice, but for civilized people it is hard to accept their licentiousness. At this point we are suggesting that the public refrains from bringing small children to the refuge during what is now called the mating season. We hope that by person-cotting the refuge the birds will get the hint to tone down their behavior and we’ll see the last tango at Bosque.