What will he post about next…. hmmmm.. maybe a collection of observations at buffets including the lady at Jumer’s Casino who takes her bare hands, puts it on the top plate of a stack and pushes them out closer to the customers and then repeats with the remaining stack of plates next to it leaving me stunned. I took the top plate off one of the stacks put it on the now empty spot behind them and took the plate below it – making sure she noticed. As fun a topic as that might be it really doesn’t stick with this month’s theme. Idiots that throw trash on the ground at State Parks…nah, last year’s trek to get a rare bird (Ron wishes)… I know, how about some more CRANES!!!
What a great idea. The bad news is these pictures are not gallery quality, but it does feature one of the coolest Cranes (my personal opinion of course).
This regal looking Crane is called a Demoiselle. Every time I see it at the International Crane Foundation images of Roman Senators leap to mind with their leaf crowns. According to the ICF website, these Demoiselles occupy the low end of the Crane stature scale – 3ft, 4-7lbs and once again rockin’ Wikipedia nets me their wingspan of 61 to 71″ for a wingspan. Note to ICF, wingspan is a common birder attribute so highly recommend adding it to your descriptions. What they lack in stature, they make up in quantity. They are in the 200 to 240K range with a stable average population – yeah! As a result, they are listed as Least Concern Conservation Status.
Thought the composition of the shot above was cute. It was definitely taking an interest in the shape it had spotted in the grass – sorry, not sure what it was but let’s simply refer to it as “food”. Don’t be worried, I do have a shot that shows their entire profile
Admittedly, not a stellar shot since it lacks that faux in the wild feeling seeing their little man made hut. Did I mention these birds are cool looking! Pretty sure I have a better picture of them from a more recent visit so stay tuned and hopefully I’ll get caught up enough to get them on the Blog. Oh, reminded by the next shot, the Demoiselle is on of the few cranes that don’t sport the red patch on the head (which for those researching day and night does not match the red palette clue for my prize hunt).
Hit the jump to view two other Cranes we visited at the ICF
