This is a very belated post - this is actually from my vacation from
some time ago, but I wasn't very good at keeping up the blog there for a
bit - too much other stuff to keep up with! But I still wanted to
share it with you because I think it's awesome! So, why would any sane
(oh, wait -- scratch the sane part -- I forgot we were describing my
behavior!), exhausted person go on vacation and get up at 4:30 in the
morning? Voluntarily. Enthusiastically, even, if somewhat blearily. Here's why:
A person gets to see the most amazing and wonderful things getting out into the woods early in the morning. Little warblers waking up and flitting through the brush, sleepy bears rambling around, and the occasional sandhill crane...
I still haven't gotten to see them do their dance, but I did get to hear them making a huge racket a clearing or two away. They're amazingly loud. One of these days, I hope I'll have a chance to see the whole performance, but this was cool enough for me. :)
Seriously- it's worth getting up unreasonably early in the morning to see something like this.
Don't you think? And of course, if you've been quick enough on the draw, you may have found something else awesome. Just sayin'... :)
7 comments:
Love the pictures. Glad I know how to be quick on the draw! See my happy dance?
I must have missed where you went on vacation. Cool pictures! Doesn't look like any crane I've seen in Missouri.
In the spring, the sandhill cranes come through Indiana. There is a large nature preserve (was strip-mined, now a preserve) where you can see thousands of these awesome birds on a migration stop. Their dance is certainly a sight!
Dizzy, I was in Michigan on my family's property. It's a beautiful area. :)
CookieCutter, we haven't had huge numbers of them, but it's amazing to see them and when you spot one walking through the woods, you can mistake it for a deer (depending on the angle you see it from, of course) because of the coloring and the height. Amazing creatures.
There is a field in Fairbanks Alaska where the sandhill cranes migrate to every year by the hundreds where they mate, nest, etc. They are one of the oldest living species dating back several million years. Their mating "dance" is incredible to watch and their call can be heard from miles away. We have visited the refuge every year for the past ten years and it never gets boring. We have lots of pictures and videos of them. They are amazing.
Sahalie
Sahalie, that's so cool. I hope to see the mating dance one of these days. And you're right about their call. The sound really travels and when it's only a short distance away, it's quite a wondrous cacophony! :)
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