Florida 2012- Entry 1: Sandhill crane ballet

Note: This is the first of several photoblog posts taken on my visits to family in Florida.

Driving through the neighborhood where my niece Christina and her family live, we spotted two sandhill cranes. Some years ago, on a trip through the Platte River area in Nebraska with our oldest grandchildren, we had seen thousands of these fascinating birds, but Ohio is not part of their territory, and the opportunity to photograph them doesn’t come my way on a regular basis. The cranes were hanging out in a field next to a Catholic church, so we pulled into the parking lot, hoping to get some pictures. If you’ve ever heard the expression, “It’s like herding cats,” you will have some idea what it was like to “herd” the birds toward the car where I sat steadying my camera on the open window frame. My niece, Sue, volunteered to do the herding, circling around the cranes, somewhat like a border collie gently directing a herd of sheep. However, cranes don’t understand the concept of herding or maybe Sue needs more practice because the cranes had their own idea about which direction to take. Nevertheless, I managed to get some photos of the recalcitrant birds that really did appear to be performing a sort of casual, but graceful, dance routine. It was a rare photo opp for me and a special treat. (Click on the first picture to bring up the gallery and watch them perform).

That’s it for this installment. Entry #2, coming up tomorrow, will be pictures snapped on a beautiful beach on the Gulf of Mexico, another rare photo opp for me.
Carolyn aka Skip