With the Sandhill Crane chicks due to hatch anytime, I headed out to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary this morning. But as the title suggests, not all went well.
The male was on the nest and when he stood up briefly you could clearly see an egg that was starting to crack open. It was one and a half hours later before the male got up again,
… this time revealing a newly hatched chick. And no sooner than this happened,
… the chick rolled down the side of the nesting area into the pond. To make matters worse, it was wedged in face down by a root and having trouble keeping its head above water.
Then apparently oblivious to the chicks peril, the male lays down again on the remaining egg. To the handful of people present watching this tragedy unfold the question arises, to intervene, or let nature take its course.
The sanctuary manager chose to wade out, free the chick and place it back on the nest. The adult cranes were obviously not too happy about the intrusion.
For a while the chick seemed to be recovering while laying in the sun. Then it happened again. The chick started moving and fell in once more.
Caught momentarily by the same root,
… it did get free. This time the adult male did pay attention to the chick in the water.
But it was not meant to be, and this time nature was allowed to takes its course.