Monday, September 29, 2008

The Sandhill Cranes of the Lower Wisconsin

Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) are quite common on the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. They are big birds, with six to seven foot wingspans, and they are quite a racket in the morning.  You can see they have big feet...or maybe you can't...

Here's a quarter for some sense of scale.


Like I said...big.

They left more than tracks...they dropped feathers all over the place.  The ground fog made the feathers little works of art.




I chose not to photograph the guano splatterings, though a few of them bore striking resemblances a miniature Jackson Pollack.

Respectfully submitted,

  Canoelover

1 comment:

Silbs said...

I often attend a sweat lodge near East Troy, and we frequentl hear these guys doing their mating stuff in a field a half mile away.