Sandhill Cranes

Deborah and I met in northern Indiana to see the sandhill cranes at Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife and Game Management Area. They congregate here and a few other places in the US on their migrations north and south each year.

We first met at JP near what would have been sunset had there been a sun. The cranes were flying by the thousands into a pasture in front of a viewing tower, landing, vocalizing and dancing. They arrived from all directions, sometimes singly, but usually in small groups. There was a cold wind blowing and it soon got dark.





We then stayed overnight in a motel 30 miles away and got up at 5 a.m. the next morning to return to see the birds at what would have been sunrise had there been a sun. Still, even without the added beauty of sunshine, it was amazing. The cranes were silvery gray with long necks. They kept flying in, silhouetted against the grey skies, gliding and flapping and dropping down to land for over an hour. We each took about 200 photos. I discarded most of mine but did get a few. Deborah took some small videos and recorded the warbling. Several people had huge lenses, and it was fun to eavesdrop as they all tried to find the correct light settings and exposures and shutter speeds, etc. Deborah and I both said we might come back on a sunny day, although it would mean a 5-hour round trip for both of us. Still, the sight of the cranes against the western sky at sunset would be worth it.

I was most entranced by the intersection of gravity and cranes. They simply seemed to have conquered the strictures of gravity and would gently gently drift downward, their spindly legs dangling, and would settle into the group already on the ground.



We then birded the surrounding area for about an hour, seeing several pairs of eastern bluebirds, tree sparrows, red-bellied and red-headed woodpeckers, white-breated nuthatches and blue jays, most in the state tree nursery which is also part of Jasper-Pulaski.