Monday, November 23, 2009

Sandhill Cranes--My World

Two things California's central valley has in abundance; historic gold rush sites and birds. I told Hubby I wanted to go to Stockton, 60 miles to the south. He was perplexed, he never thought of Stockton as a vacation spot. It is if your a sandhill crane or if you want to see them in the winter.

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve is a few miles north of Stockton. The cranes fly in to the reserve each evening in great numbers. During the day they can be seen foraging in the surrounding rice fields. Bird watchers are asked not to approach the birds. Without a super telephoto at this distance the shots are not as sharp as I might like.
The birds call to there friends flying by "come join us"

"Don't mind if we do"


" Shall we dance? "


You can find more worlds here at That's my World, hosted each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

26 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What great birds! And how fun to see a bunch of them together and be able to observe them! Looks like a fun day to me, Martha -- for you and the Sandhill Cranes! Love the one of them looking up and play/dancing!

Have a great week!

Sylvia

ninja said...

I live in a crane populated area but my photos are far worst. And I never seen so many at once.

Ebie said...

Your photos are great, even the flying motion is clear! I could still see the foliage in the background!

P.S. Sshh, I am on my early rounds, stayed home today, hahaha!

Unknown said...

I didn't know cranes live in such large groups. I though they were solitary.

Diane AZ said...

It looks like they're fun to watch with those unusual wing displays. :D

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of cranes! I'm lucky to see two at a time. Great captures.

My name is Riet said...

How wonderful your pictures are. Those beautiful birds.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photographs! I didn't realize you'd see so many cranes in the Stockton area.
Hugs and blessings,

eileeninmd said...

I would love to see big groups of the Sandhill Cranes. I have only seen one or two together before.
Great photos.

Gaelyn said...

What a wonderful treat to see so many Sandhill Cranes. I didn't realize Stockton was the place to be.

Snap said...

I love sandhill cranes. We used to live in New Mexico and would drive to Bosque del Apache every Thanksgiving to see the cranes! Wonderful! Thanks for the memories!

Anonymous said...

I wear a circle of cranes above my heart - they do repesent the everlasting life for me. Thank you for these beautiful pictures.
Please have a nice Tuesday.

Sally in WA said...

Our house in Okanogan, WA is in the migratory path of the sandhill cranes. I knew they wintered in the Sacramento delta area. How cool to see them down there. Their "song" is quite unique.

Thanks for sharing these great pics and thanks for visiting mine. :)

Linda Reeder said...

Wonderful birds. Great shots. How cool to see them in such numbers.

Japa said...

A great world of birds to watch and take beautiful photos.

Marvin said...

Nice shots of the Sandhill Cranes, especially the "dancing" photo. (I don't think there's any end to the cameras, lens and other equipment we'd all like to have.)

Arija said...

Beautiful shots. Our Brolgas are a bit bigger and also have involved courtship dances. Lovely post.

Maelka said...

Funny pictures...dancing birds ;-D.

Anonymous said...

simply beautifully captured shots...lovely!

Hazel said...

If I had wings I'd certainly join them. They have less complicated issues in their world. Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great pictures of the birds. I am not sure that I have ever seen a sandhill crane.

B i r g i t t a said...

Must be awesome to watch all these cranes coming in. We aLSO HAVE A PLACE LIKE THIS IN sWEDEN BUT i HAVEN'T YET BEEN THERE :)

Lindy said...

These are wonderful photos of the crane! We had sandhill crane migrating through our community in central Indiana this past Friday. Their 'song' was so loud, I could hear them inside the house. Yet when I went outside to determine where they were, I could not see them anywhere. They had to be waaaay up! Usually my husband and I see them in northwest Indiana around my uncle's corn fields. They tend to congregate in the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife area up there.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3109.htm

Anonymous said...

Love-love-love sandhill cranes!

I hear you on the husband comments, too. I've been trying for years to convince mine that the Brownsville dump is a desirable destination.

Carolyn Ford said...

What a sight! I, also, thought they were solitary...I have never seen so many at one time. Extraordinary!

Anonymous said...

We have a couple of Sandhills that live in our Michigan subdivision. They usually stay until the ground is frozen. However, this year they left in mid-October, without a frozen ground. Nice pics!