A Visit to the Sandhill Cranes

It's Winter and that means it was time to visit the Sandhill Cranes at Staten Island.

No, not that Staten Island!  This Staten Island  is in the San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta and is operated as both a farm and a wildlife preserve by an affiliate of the Nature Conservancy.  It is the winter home of many Sandhill Cranes.

During our visit the cranes were mostly foraging and we saw few active interactions between them.

Nor did we see the variety of species that we have seen on previous visits.  There were a fair number of Northern Shovelers with their large beaks.

There were several pairs of Common Goleneye.

And a single Eared Grebe was spotted.

We also saw a Red Tailed Hawk and a coyote.  Perhaps we will get a chance to revisit Staten Island this season or one of the many other refuges in California's Great Valley.

Find other views of our wonderful World at Our World, Tuesday and look for more images of birds at    Wild Bird Wednesday.

Territorial Dispute

After the recent storm, I went walking with my wide angle zoom lens on the camera.  A nice lens for cloud filled skies but not the best for birds.

While sitting at the edge of a pond I noticed a dispute had arisen between two Snowy Egrets.

One evidently had claimed the pond as its own, private hunting preserve and was determined to chase off the intruder.

 They raced around the pond,

 sometimes as graceful as an areal ballet,

other times more like a dog fight.

finally one gave up and flew off alone.

I wonder when I observe this, what happens to the birds that don't find an unoccupied area to hunt?

The egrets weren't the only hunters out there, I also saw this immature Cooper's Hawk.

It too took to the air.

Find more images of birds by going to Wild Bird, Wednesday, hosted for us by Stewart at Paying Ready Attention