Monday, April 18, 2016

Along The River - Sandhill Cranes

Two weeks ago we had snow and temperatures in the minus 20's (-4F).
 
Yesterday, it was sunny and warm, a balmy 20 degrees. (that's 68F).
A perfect day for a trip to The Pinery Provincial Park.
 
Walking along the Ausable River Trail, we saw the usual Canada Geese starting to nest.
 
 
Just as I was telling Hubbers there probably wasn't much more to see, I spotted this pair across the river.

 
 Sandhill Cranes

 
Yep, I was pretty excited, another "first" for me.
 
 
 
sharing with...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

28 comments:

  1. Hello, pretty sightings of the geese and the cranes. Wonderful photos, I love the last closeup of the crane.

    Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's amazing Karen. We must have been there on the platform at exactly the same time. We saw the same two cranes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WoW!! they are amazing karen, i would be pretty excited as well!! love that red eye!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Sandhill Cranes have left me in awe. Never knew we had such a bird in Ontario. You got yourself some interesting photos.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Super last photo, he looks so amazed at something. Great setting with tall grasses, I think one for a frame on the wall.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely shots Karen. Always fun to capture the sighting of a 'new' species.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a TREAT. Thank you for sharing the magic.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a difference a couple of weeks makes!
    We too, had snow 2 weeks ago. In fact the most snow we'd had all year. It is gone now, and I think it is finally spring!

    These cranes are really beautiful, Karen.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great sighting, and great pictures too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great photos. The Sandhill Cranes are especially beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love cranes! Such beautiful creatures :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Impressive photos of the cranes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, my, I can see why you'd be excited! These are all great shots.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Really nice shot of the Sandhill Crane - Congrats!
    Have a Happy Day!
    Peace :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh wow...what an exiting find and you got some wonderful photos Karen...Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  16. These are just wonderful Karen! And the best thing is that they are standing near trees so that you (and your readers) have some perspective on how really big these birds are. We've seen them off and on over the years in places where we've spent fall and winter, but it was not until this past season here that I was able to see and photograph one anywhere but out in the middle of a big flat field. (So when we saw them before, I could see how huge they were, but my pictures didn't really show that!). Yours was was a perfect first sighting!.

    Glad you are getting some Spring weather and getting out in it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for sharing the sightings from your walk. Gotta wonder why nature camouflage the Sand Crane except for the attention getting red on top of his head?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lucky you! My luck is the Canadian Geese, and a heron or two. It's a rare day to sight a new bird.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Terrific images! Our local Sandhill Cranes are busy having babies and it's wonderful to see so many tiny orange fuzz balls!
    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  20. great discovery!! excellent pics!! well done *S*

    ReplyDelete
  21. So many pretty things on your list! I hope you have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  22. The Canada Geese are so lovely! What a fabulous find the Sandhill Crane is... Well done!

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment, and hey, why not follow my blog too.
I can't respond to every comment, but I will return the favour and visit your blog. I have turned off word verification, but it randomly shows up, that's a BLOGGER glitch.