A couple of days ago I stepped out of my house and heard what sounded like a flock of birds sitting in a nearby tree chattering and muttering to each other like birds do....so I looked around for them wondering what they were.

I looked and looked but found no birds in any nearby trees.

Then I looked up and looked up and looked up and maybe a mile up there were a flock of very large brown birds circling with a minimum of wing flapping, rising on the heat coming up from the city.

A flock of sandhill cranes! They were so high it literally was difficult to see them right away. (These are birds with seven foot wingspans).

As I stood fascinated, I noticed a group of additional cranes flying to join the first group, these were in a v. Then as I watched I noted another group coming in from a different direction....in all I must have seen about six groups all converging on the original group.

I suspect that they were using the heat of the city like a spiraling escalator. Perhaps they all were part of a super flock that had dispersed in this general area to feed and rest and were regrouping for the flight north.

They are fascintating birds.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

CRANE CAM: CLICK THROUGH LINK.......

http://omaha.com/article/20100306/NEWS01/703069830

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Thanks, Joe. Nice link.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

When Dad lived at Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island, we see/hear the sandhills when they'd come through...absolutely prehistoric! Who says the dinosaurs aren't still on the face of the earth?

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Yeah we have a few of them around here. You can get really close to them. They have been around people so long they aren't scared anymore.
They are awesome birds. You can hear them from a long way off. They sound like pteradactyls!
Definitely prehistoric sounding. I think they use sound bytes of them in movies.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

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OK, I just have to ask, How do you know "They sound like pteradactyls!"?
Were you here when the pteradactyls roamed free? You must be older than me!

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Probably about 10 years ago, there was a guy who used an ultralite to lead the flock of cranes on their migration route. I might have seen him once. A lot of work has been done to save these brids.
Tom

We have adopted a pair of them over the last 5 years. We call the male Roma and the female Sonya (we think that's what they are). We watch their "kids" grow up every year until Roma chases them off. This year something happened to their "egg"- maybe it was too cold- very sad.

Roma will eat out of your hand and give you five. If we don't put their food out (deer corn) Roma will knock on the door. Neat birds....

Rick

Here's a pic (shot thru a window so quality isn't the greatest ) of Roma chasing off a raccoon that was eating his food.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

HA HA!!
I am probably older than you! LOL

Only heard them on TV
Which is why I mentioned they probably take sound bytes of them for the movies.
If you ever heard them I'm sure you would agree, they definitely have a unique sound.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
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They still do that with the young whoopers to teach the juveniles their migratory path from central Wisconsin to Florida. http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html

These folks play a big role in crane conservation:
http://www.savingcranes.org/

They must have a pretty wide range. I grew up in Roswell, NM and they used to fly over every year. It's funny, I can't recall what time of year, had to be some part of their migratory cycle as there would be a lot of them over a period of several days, flying in the V formation. I still remember the sound.

One time we drove up north about 60 miles to some sort of wetland where they were congregating, I was too young to really understand the geography of it much, some sort of ponds in the midst of the desert.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

This time of the year they are headed north to eventually feed perhaps in the arctic. (not sure)

In the fall they head south.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.