I received a heads up a couple of days ago about the first hole appearing in the egg on the Sandhill Crane nest. Unfortunately I was not able to head out to Reifel until this morning to help out with the newsletter. As luck would have it the chick had hatched just prior to my arrival. Needless to say when the Marshnotes stuff was done I made my way to the nesting site.
It was not long before the female Sandhill Crane got up and provided us with a look at the new arrival. As the chick will become mobile within a day or two, it won’t be long before the adults accompany it as it swims to shore so they can start feeding it. A temporary trail closure is already in place in anticipation of this to minimize disturbance by visitors.
Bonus shots of the day,
… the Cinnamon Teal were still around the inner ponds.