Sandhill Cranes in conflict

This is one of my favorite pics of Sandhill Cranes. The bird with it's wing's extended has jumped into the air while having a conflict with the crane directly in front of it (with it's beak directed up towards it). While I watched this flock for 20 minutes or so, there were numerous conflicts between cranes, often involving similar skirmishes. This is a good pic to enlarge by double-clicking. SeEtta

Sandhill Crane in flight

Some of the most dramatic scenes with Sandhill Cranes is during take off or landing. During these times it is possible to see their flank and underwing feathering like in this pic. This bird was taking off from a field where it's flock had been feeding in order to move to a safer location for the night in one of the flooded fields. SeEtta

Back to the Bosque

After 3 days of not being able to drive to a birding area, I finally got my car repaired yesterday. The good news is it wasn't my clutch--the really bad news is it was bearings out in my transmission and differential, more expensive.

Anyway I did go back to the Bosque Del Apache today for some birding and I got a number of good pics of Sandhill Cranes like this bird. It can be double-clicked for enlargement to see it's face (and it's pretty yellow eye) and feathers up close. SeEtta

BosqueDelApache Sandhill Crane

To continue my deviation from birding in SE Colo, here is one of the more than 8,000 Greater Sandhill Cranes that are currently at the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Boy, I have to admit that my new DSLR Canon xti camera with 70-300 lens (and 1.4 extender)does take much higher quality pics of distant birds and especially under low light than my Panasonic Lumix as this pic demonstrates. Be sure to double click on the pic to enlarge it-the bird's orange eye and the feathers show very nicely. SeEtta