Sandhill Cranes at Sunrise

      Watching these beautiful birds was almost a spiritual experience.  When we arrived in 20 deg F weather, about a thousand cranes were huddled together for warmth.  Watching their progress after that was a truly memorable experience.
       As the sun starts rising, there is a lot of stirring.  The first set of birds to take off are  snow geese followed by the first few adventurous cranes.  The cranes first stand up, call out to each other in a pleasant symphony, and start preparing to take off.  Their take off seems almost effortless,  First the wings start flapping.  As they start to rise, the legs are almost floppy and lifeless.  Then magically, as they gain height, they have the constant position of straight legs and spread-eagled wings.  They look truly majestic in this position.  One wonders if the Wright brothers when they first thought about their airplane invention, observed some birds like these to engineer their aircraft.  There really seems to be so much still that we can learn from nature, and it is humbling.
      Most of these photographs were taken at the Bosque del Apache National Preserve in New Mexico.   The Wilderness Society is working hard to make sure that the habitat of these birds is preserved.  Power lines need to be built for alternate energy sources, but we must keep them away from their stomping grounds.    After having watched this performance of nature, the thought  of these birds not existing anymore is truly disturbing.
          View my complete Sandhill Cranes gallery and share any thoughts you have.

The Great Egret takes flight

In the last few years I have found photographing birds challenging and rewarding.  They have an immense intelligence which can surprise us.  Their sense of sound and instinct for danger is much sharper than human beings. A small bird like a Warbler which loves the rivers in Wyoming, moves around with an energy which makes it hard to photograph!  The Sandhill Crane has a majesty and power which can leave one spellbound.  Watching  thousands of cranes taking off in unison at sunrise left me awestruck and this will remain a very memorable experience.

The Egret is found commonly in the Bay area and is less shy of humans compared to others like the White Pelican.  I was lucky to be quite close to this one and get a shot of it taking off from the water, which I have selected as one of the images for my blog.

As I keep photographing these wondrous creatures, I keep getting reminded of how fragile their existence is.  Their habitats are being damaged and climate change is making their migratory patterns different.  We get reminded of the crying need to protect them and the constant need to strike a balance between technological advancement and protecting natural resources.

Enjoy seeing more of my Bird Photographs.  I would love to get your comments and hear about any experiences you have.  You can also contact me through my website .