Sand Hill Cranes
magnificent fliers
floating in space.
They drift by
like giant ballons
untethered by human hands.
Proud silhouettes
kissed by the golden sunset.
Cheers to you from the wintering cranes at the Salton Sea~
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Love all the photos, but the one at sunset is just magical. Imagine that printed on something metallic!
Because you said this I added another one, a panaroma of the scene. What a great idea! I would love to see it on a metallic page!~
http://sr.photos3.fotosearch.com/bthumb/CSP/CSP309/k3096719.jpg
The sunset picture is stunning!
Thank you! I added another one! I didn’t want break my eight rule. No more than eight photos, but what the heck~
Beautiful!
Mille grazie!
Oh my!!! Love them all Cindy 😍
Ahhh, you are very kind my friend, Hugs to you~
well expressed
floating 🙂
So pleased you noticed! 🐥
What graceful beauty queens the Sand Hill Cranes are.
Cindy, the last photo is out of this world fabulous. Congratulations!
Remind me, where is the Salton Sea? xo
Ahhh, thank you! I have several of these, but I just added a sunset panaroma since you liked it. The Salton Sea is in Southern California half way between the ocean and the border with Arizona. It is a two hour drive from The Holler~
Cool! Is it fresh or salt water?
I know I saw a post recently about the Caspian Sea, and it is apparently fresh water. Go figure?
What an amazing feeling it must be to float around like that. We don’t have such exotic birds here, but love to watch the gulls enjoying themselves from our front window as they bounce around on the breeze 🙂
Gulls are amazingly intelligent and entertaining birds. I love watching them too!
ヽ(○･▽･○)ﾉﾞ
So beautiful! You really captured their spirit.
Ah, makes me happy I posted! Cheers to you~ 🐥
the top picture, captured my imagination… it is amazing how they appear to float, another great “catch” xxo
I love watching them fly. Their wings are so huge, they do float along! 🐥
Awesome photos of these birds in flight! We have them by our house at a playa lake and they fly over the house! 🙂
How awesome! I have to drive two hours to hang out with them~
I remember them when we were in Florida. They also make strange noises as they walk along. Great photos Cindy. Thanks.
They make a very funny, distinctive noise, especially when you walk up close to them!
So excellent!
Awww, thank you! 🐥
When we last visited the Salton Sea, we were in the area where the old homes are. There wasn’t much wildlife at all (and what was there was at risk). What part of the lake were you when you took these magnificent photos?
You were at Salton City which is like some post-apocalyptic ghost town. Eerie place. The lake is huge. These photos were taken at The Sonny Bono Nature Reserve Unit 1. 6 million birds shelter at the lake each year because it is on the Pacific migratory flyway. There are two of these reserves. They are south-east of where you were.
Thanks! I had actually wanted to see the “city” so I could take pictures of the decay. Next time, I’ll allow enough time to get over to the other areas.
Your photographs are simply beautiful!
You are so kind and it is so appreciated~ 🐥
Noisy too at certain times of the year. We had many of them in Northern Nevada, and the Sun Valley area in Idaho seems like a popular spot for them too. Beautiful photos.
And of course Nebraska! I want to got to Nebraska and see them and they do make a very destinctive noise~ 🐥
You can hear one for miles on a cool morning. Hope you get to go.
I hope so too!
The last one is my favourite. Love it!
Thank you, I just broke my eight is enough rule and added another one. The sunset was pure gold and it was amazing.
Rules are meant to be broken 🙂
Sometimes, I wish I could fly, like that. 🙂
You and me both. Imagine where we would go and what we would see!
I have never seen them before. I love the red facial mask. Great shots -as always.
You gotta come to The Holler and vist the birdies. Of course it is a two hour one-way drive to the sea~ 🐥
Well, the next time if I come to CA we will have a drink and there won’t be time for birds. 🙂
I LOVE those birds! We see them sometime out at our family homestead in the Texas hill country. They make a lovely sound, too. Thanks for posting them!
Their calls are quite distinctive aren’t they! Kinda like a louder version of a wild turkey~ 🐥
They’re quite a big bird. You’d almost wonder how they could fly – except they a large wing span. Lovely photos Cindy.
Leslie
Most birds are fairly light even when they are big. They have hollow bones and as you said very large wing to body ratio~
Beautiful photos, Cindy.
Leslie
Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.
Thank you Sharon from the cranes and I! 🐦
Love the crane family. So amazing.
They are. They are fascinating when they take off in unison!🐦
all I can say Cindy is WOW!
Ahhh, Happy Holidays dear one! Thought you might like to know, my daughter just got her LCSW! Woo Hoo! We need more of us~ <3
That is wonderful news, especially that she followed in your footsteps. The road from my LSW ro LCSW is a long one, but every journey is one step at a time. We do need more of us.
Happy Holidays! love, Linda
Wow beautiful birds!!! Awesome photos sweetie! Hugz Lisa and Bear
Hugs back 2 u’s twose x 2! <3
They do look like they’re floating! I love the golden pond with the silhouettes. Stunning!
That is exactly how they look when they fly. They have tons of aerodynamic lift!
These are so astonishing. I’ve seen them in Wisconsin in the summer, but never in such amazing groups. Wow. I must visit the Salton Sea at the right time of year!
Absolutely gorgeous photos, Cindy. Some day I hope to get that close to cranes, especially when they are courting.
They aren’t here for the courtship only for the winter but they still did jump several times. I am going to visit and practice photographing them more. They are very hard to get close to. I would love to see the courtship too!
Those are very beautiful photos, Cindy! Especially the last two. I am always in awe of golden lighting. It has a magical feel to it. Those should be framed an on your wall!
Oh how lovely of you to say, thank you & cheers too!
They’re beautiful Cindy.
Massive Hugs xxx
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
The sunset silhouettes are magnificent!
Honored. Thank you!
How gorgeous! Here’s hoping you’ll read my blog too sometime. Much love.
I do read your blog and enjoy it very much! Cheers to you & thank you too~
Thank you so very much. Cheers. x
Simply magnificent birds! Stunning photos, as always, my friend!!
Hugs to you Dorinda and Happy Thursday my friend~ 🐦
❤️
Love these birds! Shame we don’t have any up our way!
Thank you and I wish I had your eagles! 🐦
Great capture!
Merci beaucoup~
So graceful! No wonder cranes are often the subject of art (particularly in Asian cultures). I really can’t pick any favorite pictures here as they are beautiful no matter what they’re doing – floating in the sky, standing tall, or wading in the water against a golden backdrop. All of these are gorgeous! <3
Cranes are a symbolic artistic icon in lots of gorgeous Asian art. I suspect it has to do with the graceful and unusual way they move and fly, and their choreographed mating dances. Wonderful creatures!
Lovely
Mille grazie~ 🐦
Elegance personified! I love how you followed them throughout the day as if to capture a life cycle! Fantastic!
That is exactly what I did. They don’t like being followed by a human, but at the end of the day, they were tired and I could almost see them thinking, “she’s very annoying, but harmless, and I getting ready to sleep, so just ignore her.”
Laughing~ 🐦
🤗🤗🤗
Such beauties. 🙂
Yes they are! Five and one half feet tall and a 6.5 foot wing span. Big beauties!!
Just wonderful to see them in their environment
They are amazing to observe and grace personified~
That first shot is outstanding
Aww, every once in awhile you stop by and grace me with such kindness. It means a lot to me. Thank you & be well Duncan~
Credit where it’s due.
Amazing aren’t they. I believe they mate for life too like swans and storks. We have a pair of herons here in the marina, but think they tend to argue a lot as they are normally apart!
Here’s the amazing thing about this. They mate for life, but they have an annual courtship dance. These intelligent birds never stop the courtship phase of their relationship. How smart is this!🐦
Brilliant! I didn’t know that bit.
Fantastische Bilder Cindy! Chapeau…
Vielen danke mein lieber Freund Ernst und Frohe Advent~ 🐦
The pano u added is my fav and I could see it mounted as well!
Awesome post Cindy
Xxoo
I broke my 8 is enough rule and added it as an after thought, so your comment makes me happy I did. Thank you~ 🐦
Well I read that first comment about how u added it (and too many to read more of the comments ) never heard of the 8 is enough rule and I actually like it as an overarching guideline – with some leeway like here….
Guess it depends – but I really like that rule so thanks for sharing it
These are awesome shots, Cindy. 🙂
You are an awesome friend~ 🐦
Magnificent captures, Cindy! I think some of the birding magazine would love to publish your photos. 🙂 🙂
Awww, friends like you make life happy! <3 🐦
Really delightful portrait of the grace and magnificence of the sandhill crane, Cindy. Your photos are really exquisite. I’ve spent every winter for the last quarter century chasing sandhill cranes up in northern California in the Pacific Flyway, and it is really hard to get this kind of photo! Usually they don’t come in until it’s so dark that the light is bad, or it’s rainy or overcast, or they’re impossibly far away. I’ll say it again: exquisite.
I am so grateful that you know how difficult it is to photograph these guys. It requires so much perseverance, such a slow and continuous approach. They are very wary and always move just out of range of a good shot. I want to keep trying. They are a two hour drive for me, so I can’t be there enough for them to get used to me, but I did notice that after tromping after them for half a day, as the sun started to set, I could get closer. They were either tired, or tired of me, maybe both. Laughing…..
Thank you Athena. It is wonderful you know and share the process. 🐦
Cindy you take such lovely pictures! (I see I’m not the only one to think so!) These cheered me up on a gloomy day. Such beauty ! wonderful birds. Xxx
Your comment cheered me up on a Thursday morning. Thank you & cheers too~ 🐦
Your photos are always amazing, but I especially liked the ones of the cranes… So nice to see this time of year!
Ahhh, so kind and makes me so happy I posted! Have a wonderful day Ann~ 🐦
Awe-inspiring! ◟( ˊ̱˂˃ˋ̱ )◞♡⃛
The 🐦🐦 and I thank you!
(⑅⚈᷀᷁⌔⚈᷀᷁⑅)
♥～(‘▽^人)
Cindy, I didn’t realize these beautiful creatures wintered in your neck of the woods! Truly tremendous shots here — thank you!
Thank you more for such lovely thougths. It’s a bit of a drive to get to them, but The Salton Sea is pure birding heaven, 6 million birds shelter there each year.
Six million?? Wow, who knew?:!!
The variety is incredible. They have Blue Footed Boobies and Burrowing Owls!
How I’d love seeing those Owls!!
I was at their nest and saw an adult fly away. I saw bird carcass in the nest for the chicks but didn’t want to get close enough to scare or disturb the chicks. I would love to see them too, but respect that they don’t want to see me! 🦉
Okay, now where did you find that darling little owl at the end of your comment???
He’s an 🦉 Japanese emoji! He’s adorable isn’t he! Thanks for noticing~ 🦉🦉
Yeah, he’s just darling! Thanks for the info, and have a lovely weekend!
<3