Sandhill Crane – Page 9 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

A Little Yellow On A Gloomy Day

Back at Reifel today to help out again on the last day of the Easter long weekend. Needless to say with the weather, it was a little quieter. No where near the crowds of the sunny Saturday. In spite of the damp, the nesting birds persevere.

Despite the showers on a gloomy afternoon, not all was lost. There were some Yellow-rumped Warblers moving around the inner trails. A couple of them actually cooperated for photo opportunities.

An Audoban’s,

… and this Myrtle. Always nice to get both types of the Yellow-rumped Warbler that we will see in this area. And the bonus bird to pop up an pose while watching the warblers,

… was this Golden-crowned Kinglet.

A Reifel Day

With the Easter long weekend, some decent weather forecast, the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary can get pretty busy. Volunteers to help out on the trails were scheduled ahead of time and my turn was for this afternoon. Rather than risking getting tied up somewhere else in the morning, I went out to Reifel first thing. The plan being to try for some more shots of the Sandhill Crane nest with the morning light and before it got too busy.

One adult was on the nest basking in the morning sun.

The second egg arrived on Monday the 18th.

The pair cooperated with a changing of the guard while I was there allowing for this shot of them together at the nesting site with the two eggs. Most of my day was spent here talking with visitors, answering questions and letting them get a closer look through the camera.

On a break from the Cranes I came across some nesting activity of a much smaller bird.

This Black-capped Chickadee,

… busy working on a nesting cavity. It was a great day to be out and enjoying spring.

Nesting News

Well the talk of the last few days at Reifel has been the Sandhill Crane pair. It started with them pushing away the juvenile from last year. Then spending a brief day or two preparing the nesting site they used last year. And yesterday morning the first egg arrived.

I stopped by early this afternoon to get this shot. Now to wait and see if a second egg will be laid. If all goes well, it should be around the middle of May the chick(s) hatch.