Althouse: The nesting crane.

April 22, 2024

The nesting crane.

(Write about whatever you want in the comments.)

25 comments:

Clyde said...: I had my first real interaction with sandhill cranes a couple of weeks ago in Michigan when I was Up North for the eclipse. I had seen some in Florida before but never got anywhere close to them. There were a bunch of them at the park we went to in Michigan, and they got very close to the people, and I even saw one of them eat out of a man's hand. They came within a few feet of me and exhibited no fear. They seemed to understand that they were in a safe place. We also saw a bunch of wild turkeys at the same park. I also saw songbirds come down out of the trees and eat birdseed out of people's hands. It was a very cool experience.; 4/22/24, 6:49 PM
Clyde said...: Today is my 64th birthday, so I took the opportunity to make a karaoke video singing "When I'm Sixty-Four." I just did the first verse, because more would have been overkill. I posted it to my Facebook feed and got positive comments. It took me a few takes to get the results I wanted, but it turned out okay.; 4/22/24, 6:51 PM
gilbar said...: (Write about whatever you want in the comments.)

Delicious And Tempting Sandhill Crane Recipes!
Sandhill Crane Recipes are famous among the folk who love to shoot. Sandhill cranes are giant migratory birds found in some states in North America and certain parts of Siberia. These birds are referred to as the “Ribeye of the sky.” That is because their meat is very similar to the ribeye steak. They are highly sought by people who enjoy the sport of hunting. The birds are huge with gigantic wings, and an average male weighs around 4 to 4.5 kgs.; 4/22/24, 7:13 PM
gilbar said...: i like MY sandhill's cooked in barely boiling water.. you Know: poached!; 4/22/24, 7:14 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Great shot on the bottom, composition is top notch!; 4/22/24, 7:15 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Happy 64 Clyde!; 4/22/24, 7:16 PM
Michael said...: Pat Tillman died 20 years ago today. "Friendly fire." There's a lot to say about the unworthiness of the cause he died for and the coverup by the people who sent him there—ugly stuff—but what dominates my memory is the man's character. His decision to leave the NFL and forego million$ after 9/11. It was emblematic of who this man was.

It still enrages me that our government took him, plus tens of thousands of others, and just p!ssed their lives away.; 4/22/24, 7:28 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: The fossil record shows sandhill cranes have one of the longest fossil histories of any extant bird. The oldest unequivocal sandhill crane fossil is 2.5 million years old, older by half than the earliest remains of most living species of birds; 4/22/24, 7:42 PM
Dude1394 said...: Beutiful, we get sandhills, woodstorks and whooping cranes in the winter in Texas. We love 'em; 4/22/24, 7:45 PM
rhhardin said...: 13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not her's: her labour is in vain without fear;; 4/22/24, 7:54 PM
Narr said...: HBD Clyde.

No cranes around here, sad to say. But some songbirds have built a nest on a crook of one of our downspouts in front. I can't tell what they are, only what they aren't (cardinal, bluebird, brown thrasher).

In the back, some brown thrashers are nesting deep within the enormous azalea that has survived the last few cold winters. When the dackel gets too close, one of them comes out and stalks behind him, jabbing his hindquarters to speed him along. He's so old and out of it most of the time that they needn't fear, but I guess they don't take chances.; 4/22/24, 8:19 PM
TickTock said...: I was taught as I was brewing up that "first they came for the Jews," but that I was somewhere down the list. I still believe that.; 4/22/24, 8:21 PM
Big Mike said...: @Clyde, congratulations, you young punk kid.; 4/22/24, 8:30 PM
Joe Smith said...: So Frasier finally retired.

The reboot wasn't very good...; 4/22/24, 9:42 PM
Jupiter said...: I have been watching the Moon rise, and I believe the Moon is full tonight. So, I have been trying to understand, how the Moon could, quite recently, have traversed a path -- a trajectory -- almost perfectly matching that of the Sun, when it is quite evident that the path it is going to traverse tonight is nearly orthogonal to the one the Sun traversed today. This is a sort of mental manipulation that I am very good at, better than most. But I fear the prospects are dim. There exists a truth, but my mind is not operating along lines that will reveal that truth.

Meanwhile, my cat is staring at the newly-mown grass. There are, I believe, little moths, flitting about in the grass, and she fancies them. She follows them closely, moving only her eyes, waiting for the moment of their vulnerability. Only a very stupid monkey, in her view, would be concerned with the sky, which is nothing but a dumb-show of lights and cloudages, when the Earth gives every prospect of a final reckoning with all the things that move just slightly too rapidly to be brought under contemplation. This time ...; 4/22/24, 10:38 PM
TaeJohnDo said...: Happy day, Clyde!; 4/22/24, 11:34 PM
rehajm said...: Storks, spoonbills and assorted herons and shore birds. No cranes here. Shame, though they can wreck the golf course…; 4/23/24, 3:42 AM
Mr. Twister said...: I made a blog again recently, so far, not a lot of visitors but you know, you cannot force it ;)
also, the photos are amazing; 4/23/24, 6:07 AM
BG said...: Happy belated birthday, Clyde. Hope your day was fantastic!
(I’m still waiting for the Althouse Morning Calendar, consisting of “the best of…”); 4/23/24, 7:28 AM
Ann Althouse said...: No one has said they see the crane in the first photograph, so can I assume it was a lot easier than I thought?; 4/23/24, 7:54 AM
Dude1394 said...: I saw it, but sure had to look hard. Photos are tough versus realtime for birding. Sound, movement. But animals are really hard to see when they are still.; 4/23/24, 7:56 AM
gilbar said...: i hadn't even Thought about him (her?) being visible in the first pic.
After you said (and i opened in flicker) it was easy.. he (she?) is right in the middle; 4/23/24, 8:13 AM
Narr said...: I figured that the bird was in the first photo but I only looked for it for a very short few seconds last night.

This morning, with your prompt, I looked again and I think it is just to the left of dead center.

What's my prize?; 4/23/24, 10:09 AM
Tina Trent said...: Top, middle, back? They are grey here. They mate for life. We have a lonely one who lives near our creek. I feel sad when I see him. Maybe we should eat him.; 4/23/24, 3:39 PM
walter said...: 4/23/24, 3:39 PM
Said crane inexplicably rouses into a happy dance as if to say "Hey. No worries! I'm fine!"; 4/23/24, 8:27 PM