Yesterday's much closer shot of migrating Sandhill Cranes was made from a blind, a day's drive north of where I live, at one of their major staging grounds. By the time they reach southwestern Saskatchewan - most years - they are flying very high. Serious flying. Southbound for the winter.

We lay on our backs watching as wave after wave passed directly overhead. Usually their strange, alien cries alerted us before we actually saw them. We were on a long back country hike and I had not brought a long lens with me, so this image is best viewed LARGE, or the crane silhouettes may be lost against that altocumulus sky.

According to Google, a group of cranes may have several collective nouns; my faves are a "swoop" and a "dance". This dance contains 159 cranes (approximately) and was about the average size. Extrapolating from this, I estimate that 2,000 to 2,500 cranes flew over us that day.

Photographed looking straight up from Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird migratory long-legged wading bird flight flying migration dance swoop sky cumulus clouds pattern nature wild prairie Wow! fall southbound Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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This year, the cranes were not where I've found them previously; that section of the marsh has dried up. In a morning of driving the back roads, watching and listening, we found the fields where they were feeding during the day and the marshes where they rested at night. These birds have completed their nesting cycle in the north and are now bound for New Mexico and Texas, where they will overwinter.

It was a difficult shoot. We didn't find any cranes in close, other than overhead flybys. Several years of drought have resulted in birds abandoning formerly excellent photo spots. Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area still provides refuge for millions of migratory birds on their long journeys, but wildlife photography there is currently more challenging than just a few years ago. Things change. So it goes. I had fun anyway. Stay tuned...

Photographed near Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird wader long-legged wading birds field feeding spilled grain after harvest migration migratory heading south pano panorama fall autumn Last Mountain Lake SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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Here is a more conventional image (than yesterday's) of Sandhill Cranes, made in late March as they return to their northern breeding grounds.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird wading bird flight flock flying sky blue flying north migration migratory wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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The past four days I've been immersed in wildlife pursuits - mostly coyotes, but some other species as well. Late fall is an active time for wildlife, before everything slows down a couple weeks before Christmas.

While I get some of the new images ready for public viewing, here is a look back to just over a year ago, during the annual Sandhill Crane migration. My friend George and I hid in camo blinds before dawn, listening to the rising murmurs of cranes hidden in the marshes. At dawn they flew out, wave over wave of them passing overhead. Every time I witness this, it's a thrill.

Photographed at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird wading birds flight flying in flight vertical migratory migration heading south wild prairie Last Mountain Lake SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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For some reason I overlooked this portrait earlier. Maybe I felt the background is too mottled and distracting... but I am resisting playing with the image too much. This is one of the resident, breeding cranes at the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Westham Island, near Ladner, BC. Very habituated and easy to approach. Living in Saskatchewan now, the closest I have gotten to a crane this year was the overhead flybys in migration. Up close, they're spectacular!

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird wader vertical portrait eye bill neck red wild nature Reifel Sanctuary Ladner BC British Columbia Canada Flickr'sBestCreatures

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