Mated Pairs Of Sandhill Cranes In Flight

Sandhill Cranes are exceedingly graceful in flight, especially when it’s a mated pair flying in tight formation.  Pair-bonded cranes often seem to enjoy flying as close to each other as possible.

 

sandhill crane 9863 ron dudley

 1/2000, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I include this shot to illustrate my point. This mated pair was coming in for a landing and at first the larger male on top was on the left side of the female but as they descended he slid over the top of her so closely that I thought they might collide, but of course they didn’t.   The wingspans of these birds can exceed 7′ but they seem to know precisely where every feather is at any given moment.

 

 

sandhill crane 9650 ron dudley

 1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

The “flight intimacy” of paired sandhills can make it difficult for the photographer to get good separation of the birds (which is usually the ideal).  Here the cranes are not completely separated but since the wing of the female is shaded behind the head of the male I think his head stands out well anyway.  I do wish we could see her legs and feet but that would mean sacrificing the wing position of the male that I like.

 

 

sandhill crane 7297 ron dudley

  1/500, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Despite the fact that these cranes are slightly past me I really liked the light and the contrasting backgrounds of the two birds.  This image was taken just after sunrise and light doesn’t get much warmer than this (perhaps a little too warm for some tastes).

 

  

sandhill crane 9635b ron dudley

1/1000, f/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f/4 II, 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

If this image looks familiar it’s because I posted another shot of these two birds a couple of weeks ago, though the wing positions of both birds are the opposite of what they were in the earlier image.  As this mated pair descended for a landing the male was “talking” to his mate.  This seems to be a common occurrence when bonded birds are about to land among other cranes already on the ground.

Each of these images was taken two weeks ago in Wayne County, Utah.  I won’t soon forget my time with these loud, graceful and sometimes comical birds.

Ron

25 Comments

  1. I love these photos, especially the last one. I know it is an odd thing to say, but in these large birds, I do see their dinosaur ancestors. Thank you for the lovely shots.

  2. Fabulous aerodynamics on their parts, and well timed on yours.

  3. What perfect choreography. And what a delight it must have been to watch this dance. Thank you Ron.

  4. Watching Sandhill Cranes never disappoints. You’ve captured that experience in these images Ron.

    I personally like the warm light of sunrise, and right now on a rainy day in Boise, that image is serving me well.

  5. Looking at these wonderful images again…and again , am struck by how joyous the last one is…love it!

  6. Balm to the spirit, Ron… absolutely exquisite, all of them. Thanks!

  7. Hi Ron, I like the warm light photo and think the contrasting background helps to make the birds stand out..
    Regarding email: since you asked for info, somehow I stopped receiving my daily email as of last friday 3/21(I actually went thru withdrawal, missing them). I simply re-registered and am now receiving fine. Just thought I’d let you know, I’m very glad I am receiving every day again ! 🙂

    • I appreciate the feedback on the email notifications, Bill. I hope it was just a temporary glitch of some kind. Please let me know if it happens again.

  8. oh wow … now those are SO cool!!!!!!!!!

  9. ron, coming to antelope island next week – thanks to your photos for continued inspiration.
    a techie question – in your daily emails, until 2 days ago I used to be able to “click” the blue and go into the site – now it doesn’t work – did you change on your end? I can always go into your site, but I thought the change after 2 yrs was odd.
    barb

    • Barb, I’m not sure why it isn’t working for you. I’ve changed nothing on this end. I get the same email notifications and I just now “clicked the blue” link in the email and it worked for me. If anyone else is having this issue with email notifications please let me know.

  10. Beautiful images Ron,an awesome ballet in flight .

  11. I love the first one – I love that you cannot clearly tell where one bird ends and the other begins – a true pair.

    • Leisa, Sometime in the future I may post a series of images that show this male moving over the top of the female in flight from left to right. It’s pretty interesting because he was so close to her when he did it.

  12. Wonderful…like something from an old Japanese print.

  13. Charlotte Norton

    What gorgeous shots! They are beautiful and graceful. Every year we go to Rockport, Texas to see the Whooping Cranes. Last year a pair of Who opens had adopted a Sandhill. They were definitely a family unit and we’re amazing to watch.
    Charlotte

  14. As usual nice shots -luv those cranes. Was down in Monte Vista CO NWR at the first of the month and saw thousands of these birds. Seeing is not as thrilling as listening to them! By chance the 10,000 Birds blog today featured Cranes. Cute pic of a baby crane! Thanks Ron for yore great blog.

    • Mark, The 33 birds I was photographing often made a lot of noise. I can only imagine how much of it would be produced by thousands of them…

  15. Your daily posts are my daily calming day-starter. Beautiful photography with proof of a wealth of knowledge behind each shot. Thank you for all of this!

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