Sandhill Crane Watch

It has been several years since I have been able to photograph the beautiful Sandhill Cranes that use Kentucky as a flyway on their way South to Hiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, in southeast Tennessee, and points further South. Today was one of those days. I was on my way home after a brief visit to Louisville to take care of some business with my condo there. Earlier in the week I had read on the aba.bird.org website that over ten thousand Cranes had stopped over south of Elizabethtown in Cecilia for a rest.

I have photographed the Cranes in Cecilia several years ago. It's not easy getting decent images as the Cranes are normally far off in plowed corn fields feeding. But just as I was leaving, I noticed a group of Cranes near a pond in a yard off the highway. I managed to capture these images getting as close as I could without disturbing the Cranes.

I can't help it, Sandhill Cranes, to me, are so beautiful. Hiawassee National Wildlife Refuge is almost two hours from my home in northeast Nashville. Some day I shall pay a visit. I also read on the same website this week that there are thousands and thousands of Cranes overwintering at the refuge. It won't be long before they will fly north to their nesting grounds in Canada. I would love to see a nest one day and the smaller chicks. What fun that would be. I trust you are having a wonderful weekend. It's been very cold here, but there's a warm up on the way this week. ENJOY!

A Sandhill Crane Story

Come with me as I take you back to Winter 2013. After a short drive, I pull into the small town of Ewing Bottoms, west of Mustatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, in south central Indiana. Thousands of Sandhill Cranes are spread across the vast farm fields. Moving from field to field, the Cranes lift off, fly a short distance and land to forage for food. The bottom land is the perfect platform for viewing the Sandhill Cranes with its flat expanse covering multiple farm fields and a two lane road that cuts right through the middle of the area enabling you to view the Cranes in closer proximity. Flat and wide, one can view the Cranes for miles and miles while listening to their distinct calls as it penetrates an otherwise quiet Winter's day.

Fast forward to present day in middle Tennessee. Now, as I did in southern Indiana, I will travel to view the Sandhill Cranes yet again. Only this Winter I will travel to Hiwassee National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Tennessee, where thousands and thousands and thousands of Cranes will spend the winter months before migrating back north to build their nests and add to the Crane population. Each January the refuge holds a Sandhill Crane Festival with upwards of 2,500 visitors who travel to the refuge from all over the United States to view the Cranes. One might have thought my relationship with these magnificent creatures ended when I moved south to Tennessee, that could not be farther from the truth. Now I am closer to their Winter home and hopefully, in early January I will have new images of the Cranes to share as I travel to Hiwassee to view the Cranes yet again. Until then I wanted to share with you this image I captured of the Cranes as they flew from field to field in Ewing Bottoms in Southern Indiana several years ago. They are so beautiful. Don't you agree. ENJOY!